Win-Win – eTeaching Practice is Unique, Effective and Valuable…

1. Win-Win – eTeaching Practice is Unique, Effective and Valuable… Lyz Moore And Shirley Bennett

3. Research Context – the Module eTutoring module of Med eLearning, 20 credits, Level 7 Specific focus on eTeaching Practice element

4. Theoretical base • Currently much of the Literature sees Experiential Learning for staff moving online as being experiential learning as OL Learners • Current research falls short at the point going beyond the need to experience online learning before teaching OL • The research focus here is on added value that experiential learning as OL TEACHERS brings

5. Evaluation of the value of eTutoring module within Med eLearning

7. Findings Unique • Experiential ... • Peer-based … Safe … • LEARNING Valuable Effective

8. Process was Key “Initially I was really nervous about it, then it became a real nurturing experience and I felt very much relieved that comments made were positive and took on board what my peer reviewer said. The positive bit was where two or more people within eTP had committed time specifically to review their peers teaching practice, which sort of abstracts the teaching from the content and formalises it to make it happen. With eTP there is an element of being there for each other, offering advice and stating that ‘yeah, that was great and perhaps this might need a little improvement’.” “It’s great to get feedback from someone who is not directly involved with your own teaching as they focus on the teaching much more than the content. I think if I’d had a peer review by someone from my own department it would have got inevitably sidelines by subject, literature or other issues”

9. Unique “I think what’s more valuable for me is the kind of intrinsic value of having the responsibility because when you’re a student, although you have responsibilities as a student, you aren’t responsible for whether the thing flies or not!” “The shift in focus on getting people to look at the teaching aspects rather than obsess on the tools is really important… it was the focus on the teaching using the VLE to support that rather than just putting our work on the VLE and using it as storage. eTP makes us follow this process [and] allows for protected and specific time to go through each stage of planning, doing and reviewing our teaching practice online and give you some ideas of what to do for next time”

10. Effective – impact on teaching practice “The eLearning course as it existed is completely different. My approach to eLearning was probably quite one dimensional… it was like a sort of ‘here’s some content, now answer some questions on it’ and it was sort of not at all in any way geared towards engaging people” “I’ve learnt to hold back, whereas last year I did spend a lot of time peering in and worrying about whether or not the students were interacting. Now I don’t intervene too quickly, and try to hold my nerve for a bit longer before I jump in” ” Having had the experiences I began to know what I felt would work with my own learning group. Although you could say this happens in a face-to-face classroom it was heightened because of the learning environment online: we are actually attempting to accredit it [online course] at the moment through our university, so it has changed in structure”

11. Valuable “Experiential learning meant that I became a lot more confident in my teaching…it took me beyond the taught content. By doing this eTP it also looked at when we reviewed the approach to what teaching was and how we actually do what we did and how to teach online. I think it is different because it is so personalised and I think things like Salmon’s 5-step model can be really helpful and the structure of it is really helpful but I also think eTP gives you the opportunity to look deeply at what you are trying to do, especially relating to your individual teaching and the key points are that the planning, delivery and reviewing phase, are necessary steps” “I think I wouldn’t be able to teach online without having undertaken that module [eTP] to give me the theoretical aspects plus the fact that my practical skills in safe environment… I certainly wouldn’t want to just launch ahead and just say that I could teach online without knowing and understanding the theory that applies in online teaching”

12. Make assessment more authentic to eTP process Evaluation of the value of eTutoring module within Med eLearning Possible strategy for Isle of Man Confirmation of experiential element of curriculum Value of module as a standalone module (SEDA?) Recommendations

13. Discussion points “You can’t learn to fly a plane without flying a plane; do you know what I mean? You’ve got to have a go at it. The theory is great and the models are great but you need to do it at some point and you want to do it in a safe environment. If you’re going to learn to fly a plane you don’t want to do it in an actual plane, you’d have a go in a simulator first, where it doesn’t matter if you get it wrong, then have a go in a plane. I know I’m labouring the analogy, but really I think that what is really important is people feel safe to experiment in a … it’s not entirely a consequence-free environment but largely is, and they’re not left on their own. The danger is if you don’t do it in a supportive environment like this, people go away, they’re given a model, they’re given some tool to create the content with and they are left to their own devices and I think that is likely to give people a poor experience of eLearning and likely to put them off using it and put organisations off using it as well” “I guess it’s easier to read the classes understanding if you’re in a face-to-face environment, than it is from a distance. In a face-to-face environment you can pick up who’s interacting and who isn’t, but with the lurker, I think to establish that relationship without frightening them off is quite crucial to that person’s learning experience” “You do get that peer erm… they collude don’t they? We do a lot of peer observation at work and you can almost see it in action where people think ‘Well I don’t want to hurt her feelings’ or ‘I wouldn’t have done it that way but I’m not going to tell them’. Do you know what I mean? It’s not as frank. We had quite a good relationship and the individual was really responsive and very constructive in his feedback… which I found really helpful and I wondered if some of that was more honest because we didn’t actually know each other personally”