Quality assurance and quality enhancement of eLearning in the UK, and the development of the epprobate initiative

1. Quality assurance and quality enhancement of eLearning in the UK, and the development of the epprobate initiative Harvey Mellar Borderless Quality‧Infinite Innovation International Conference on e-Learning Quality and Innovative Instruction Taiwan, 31 July 2012 www.ioe.ac.uk/staff/LKLB_34.html

2. epprobate www.epprobate.com www.epprobate.com

3. Institute of Education, University of London www.ioe.ac.uk www.epprobate.com

4. London Knowledge Lab www.lkl.ac.uk www.epprobate.com

5. University of London International Programmes www.londoninternational.ac.uk www.epprobate.com

6. Outline • Quality and eLearning • The changing landscape of knowledge and learning • Quality assurance in the UK • Quality assurance of eLearning • epprobate www.epprobate.com

7. Quality and eLearning www.epprobate.com

8. What is quality? • Exception: Quality as something exceptional, and distinctive • Perfection: Quality as a consistent or flawless outcome • Fitness for purpose: Quality as fulfilling a customer's requirements, needs or desires • Value for money: Quality as return on investment • Transformation - the enhancement and empowerment of students or the development of new knowledge Harvey, L. (1995). Editorial (The Key Issues: the quality agenda) Quality in Higher Education www.epprobate.com

9. Concerns about the quality of eLearning www.epprobate.com

10. Corporate training American Society for Training & Development (ASTD) What concerns does your organization have about e-learning? “Quality of programs – 31.3%” www.astd.org/Publications/Newsletters/ASTD-Links/ASTD-Links-Articles/2011/01/E-Learning-Trends-2011 www.epprobate.com

11. Higher Education 66% of faculty say online courses are inferior or somewhat inferior to face-to-face courses Conflicted: Faculty and Online Education, 2012 A Joint Project of The Babson Survey Research Group and Inside Higher Ed I. Elaine Allen, Jeff Seaman, with Doug Lederman Scott Jaschik http://www.insidehighered.com/news/survey/conflicted-faculty-and-online-education-2012 www.epprobate.com

12. Schools www.carnegielearning.com www.epprobate.com

13. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/09/technology/a-classroom-software-boom-but-mixed-results-despite-the-hype.html?pagewanted=allhttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/09/technology/a-classroom-software-boom-but-mixed-results-despite-the-hype.html?pagewanted=all www.epprobate.com

14. The changing landscape of knowledge and learning www.epprobate.com

15. New demands and new suppliers • Demands • Many more students involved in higher education • Demands for equitable access and retention • Increasing need to address issues of student demand and choice • Constraints on public spending result in higher fees • Suppliers • Shift towards a more deregulated market • Courses offered by international providers • Increase in for-profit institutions in education • Disaggregation of services • Collaborations and partnerships www.epprobate.com

16. New skills www.p21.org/index.ph www.epprobate.com

17. Using multimodal representations http://www.mat.ucsb.edu/res_proj3.php www.epprobate.com

18. Developing techno-mathematical literacies Hoyles, Celia (2007) Understanding the System: Techno-Mathematical Literacies in the Workplace www.epprobate.com

19. Learning in the Network Society Castells, M. (2001) The Internet galaxy: reflections on the Internet, business, and society www.epprobate.com

20. Harnessing the Data Deluge http://www.economist.com/node/15579717?Story_ID=15579717 www.epprobate.com

21. Learning in new ways www.epprobate.com

22. New (ish) technologies M-learning Tangibles Serious games and immersive worlds Haptic technologies www.epprobate.com

23. Opening accessOERs, MOOCs and MOTS Open Educational Resources OER Massive Online Open Courses Mass Online Tutoring Systems www.epprobate.com

24. Learning as connecting • Learning is a process of connecting specialized nodes or information sources • Learning may reside in non-human appliances • Capacity to know is more critical than what is currently known • Nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to facilitate continual learning • Ability to see connections (built networks) between fields, ideas, and concepts • Currency (accurate, up-to-date knowledge) is the intent of all connectivist learning activities Siemens, G. (2005) Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age www.epprobate.com

25. Teaching as a design science “Teaching is not rocket science. It is, in fact, far more complex and demanding work than rocket science.” - Richard Elmore “Teaching is changing. It is no longer simply about passing on knowledge to the next generation. Teachers in the 21st century, in all educational sectors, have to cope with an ever-changing cultural and technological environment. Teaching is now a design science. Like other design professionals - architects, engineers, town planners, programmers – teachers have to work out creative and evidence-based ways of improving what they do.” - Diana Laurillard “Every day, teachers design and test new ways of teaching, using learning technology to help their learners. But their discoveries remain local. By representing and communicating their best ideas as structured pedagogical patterns, teachers could develop this vital professional knowledge collectively” - Diana Laurillard www.epprobate.com

26. C o n t e x t Problem Solution Pedagogical design patterns • Context • Where, when, who (all the things you can’t change) • Problem • We want to do A under condition B but are constrained by C • Solution Cookbook: ingredients, procedure, expected outcomes What are we trying to achieve / solve? When, Where, Who www.epprobate.com

27. quality ASSURANCE in the UK www.epprobate.com

28. QA in UK Higher Education Universities and colleges manage the quality and standards of their awards by means of their own internal quality assurance procedures • Course validation • Annual monitoring • Periodic course review • External examiners • Peer observation • Student feedback • Course evaluation surveys • Focus groups • Student representation http://www.qaa.ac.uk www.epprobate.com

29. Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) • Quality Code • Standards, quality and public information • Institutional review • Review team of five, including a student • Institutions submit a self-evaluation document and a student written submission • Preliminary visit - one and a half days + Review visit - three to five days • Institutional reports publicly available on the QAA website • Outcomes Reports www.epprobate.com

30. Involvement of learners in quality assurance www.epprobate.com

31. From quality assurance to quality enhancement QUALITY ASSURANCE QUALITY ENHANCEMENT Encourages and requires frank reporting Facilitates transformational change Supports and manages risk taking Prospective approaches to quality management • Inhibits frank reporting • Promotes incremental improvement of academic practice • Discourages risk taking • Retrospective approaches to quality management Raban, C. (2007) ‘Assurance Versus Enhancement: Less Is More?’ Journal of Further and Higher Education www.epprobate.com

32. quality ASSURANCE of eLearning www.epprobate.com

33. Quality Code - Section 2 www.epprobate.com

34. Benchmarking • A group of universities set up in a benchmarking club • Each completes an Institutional Review Document   • They jointly develop a set of criteria called good practice statements • Each institution then scores its performance against the good practice statements www.epprobate.com

35. A research study on quality assurance of eLearning • Case studies of Postgraduate courses • For each case study • Collect and review all quality assurance documentation • Interview stakeholders • Comparative examination of data • Map of issues not captured by the quality assurance procedures • Identification of aspects of the courses which impact on the implementation of the QA procedures www.epprobate.com

36. Results: Factors affecting the application of QA procedures ORGANISATIONAL CONTEXT DISTRIBUTED TEAMS DISAGGREGATED PROCESSES DISTANT LOCATION OF STUDENTS OPENNESS OF COURSES TO REVIEW www.epprobate.com

37. Workshop on QA/QE procedures and eLearning • Based on existing research • Delivered in 15 UK universities, then in Germany, Sweden, Saudi Arabia • Examined issues, challenges and possible solutions • Dilemma, should we • modify existing quality procedures, or • create new quality procedures specifically for eLearning? www.epprobate.com

38. QA/QE in eLearning Special Interest Group www.qe-sig.net www.epprobate.com

39. Toolkit http://qaqe-sig.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Toolkit_version_2011_8_11-Final-edit-DoH.pdf www.epprobate.com

40. UK Quality Code for Higher Education - Learning and Teaching Example indicators • An understanding of the learning process informs learning and teaching practices, which use evidence-informed approaches derived from the outcomes of research, scholarship and the evaluation of professional practices. • Higher education providers assure themselves that for every student both the physical and virtual environments they provide are safe, accessible, reliable and usable and that their use is characterised by dignity, courtesy and respect. http://www.qaa.ac.uk/Newsroom/Consultations/Pages/learning-teaching.aspx www.epprobate.com

41. Summary: Issues for assessing quality of eLearning • Development of a quality culture • Use of research, scholarship and the evaluation of professional practices to inform learning and teaching practices • Ensuring the currency and accuracy of content • Involvement of learners • Involvement of other stakeholders • Use of learning analytics • Internationalisation www.epprobate.com

42. The international quality label for eLearning courseware epprobate www.epprobate.com

43. Objectives • Increase trust in eLearning • Deliver a quality label focusing on courseware • Facilitate a consensus building process about eLearning quality • Establish an international network of reviewers and partners www.epprobate.com

44. The review process • Self assessment document • Asks for evidence • Evaluations • Learning analytics • Review panel • Pedagogic expert • Content expert • Learner • Courseware producer • Panel reviews courseware in terms of the quality grid • Feedback to producer www.epprobate.com

45. The quality grid http://epprobate.com/index.php/en/epprobate-quality-grid www.epprobate.com

46. A. COURSE DESIGN • Provision of course information, learning objectives and instructional guidance 2. Constructive alignment www.epprobate.com

47. B. LEARNING DESIGN 3.Learner needs 4. Personalisation 5. Instructional strategies www.epprobate.com

48. C. MEDIA DESIGN 6. Media integration 7. Interface 8. Interoperability and technological standards www.epprobate.com

49. D. CONTENT 9. Accuracy and values of content 10. Intellectual property rights 11. Legal compliance www.epprobate.com

50. epprobate - meeting the challenges • Development of a quality culture • Use of research, scholarship and the evaluation of professional practices to inform learning and teaching practices • Ensuring the currency and accuracy of content • Involvement of learners • Involvement of other stakeholders • Use of learning analytics • Internationalisation www.epprobate.com