Innovation at the margins: the Nottingham open online course

1. Innovation at the margins: the Nottingham open online course

5. Mini-NOOC training course Day 1 What is a NOOC? and what is the student experience like? Day 2 What can we learn from our first NOOC? Day 3 Teaching Online Day 4 Possible Models for NOOC facilitation Day 5 Getting Practical: collaboratively authoring advice and guidance

6. We modelled a process whereby we could move students from the edge of the NOOC towards its centre

8. NOOC 1 SWOT Analysis Quiz the VC live 128 people completed this and there were 1,594 postings in the SWOT analysis discussion forum

11. Analysis of NOOC 1 Students’ perceptions of useful and challenging characteristics of the online nature of the NOOC Analysis of Student Presentation of self Analysis of Student and Staff interaction, student cognitive engagement and staff levels of mentoring during two asynchronous discussions Changes in Students‘ Conceptualizations of the term Sustainability Analysis of Students’ Visual Representations of Sustainability - The Posters Task Analysis of Students’ Visual Representations of the history of Sustainability- The Photos Task

12. Useful/Challenging elements of NOOC(52 evaluations) Useful • Flexibility • Opportunity to meet peers • Interactive online activities • More willing now to take further online courses Challenging • Moodle clutter • Too much info • Too many students • want more social media • Want face to face interaction

13. (131 blog entries) learners style of presentation influenced by that adopted by facilitators/tutors who post first – same informality and length Informal salutations, short declarations of context and purpose, use of acronyms familiar within the institution Postgrad and staff less informal than UGs, UK UGs less informal than China/Malaysia UGs (Chinese students offering Anglicized versions of their names). PGs tend to mention their research areas, staff the connection of sustainability to their professional roles/interests Learner presentation of self

14. Cognitive engagement(207 postings) • 55% comments respond direct to tutor • 27% comments analytical/evaluative • 10% comments mentioned changes in thinking/behaviour • Cognitive engagement fairly consistent, but engagement levels greater if task assessed

15. Conceptualisations of ‘S’(analysis of postings of 40 students active in weeks 1 & 10) • Using 5-tiered taxonomy: 1. Pre-structural 2. Uni-structural 3. Multi-structural 4. Relational 5.Extended abstract • Students starting at 1/2 move to 3/4 • Students starting at 4/5 stay at 4/5 • 77% said they would change their behaviour Carew, A. L. & Mitchell, C. A. (2002). Characterising undergraduate engineering students‘ understanding of sustainability. European Journal of Engineering Education, 27(4), 349–361.

16. Visual Representations – 61 posters Do they – 1. Present info 2. Offer arguments 3. Encourage behaviour change? Most do 1 or 2 Waste the most common topic Business students focus on economic angles

17. Food for thought • Why? • Cooking/preparing too much. • Don't consume it in time. Did you know? Globally, 1/3 of food is wasted. 7.2million tonnes of food waste is thrown away from UK homes alone. This costs an average household £480 a month! • What can I do? • Prepare a shopping list • Don't shop when you're hungry • Create a compost heap for fruit and veg • Utilise leftovers • Put new food at the back, and old food at the front. References: Http://thedailygreen.com http://england.lovefoodhatewaste.com/node/2472

18. Visual Representations – 123 images + captions Focus on problems & solutions: • Pollution • Deforestation • Recycling • Renewables • 11% on politics/policy • Small number on personal + daily issues

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20. Soundbites from Students Although I did not finish all the homework, I nearly read all the materials the course offered. The course is great, because it let me know I can do something for sustainability. I liked that you were able to choose which assessments to do and not do. The poster activity also provides an extremely useful technique that was nice to learn with me being on a science course. I have a new approach of learning things by online classes and I have the chance share my ideas with other students from other countries. I am more interested in the news about sustainability and enjoy communicating with other students from other campus on line. Perhaps the best thing of this course is its flexibility available for students of different specialties and backgrounds.

21. Disruptive effect on staff? I did gain a lot from reading others' perspectives.  I did learn more about what the university is doing. I did identify some more resources from which to enhance my own work. For example, there was an interesting debate about rubbish cultures which has enhanced my understanding of how localism shapes resources use solutions; I've incorporated that into some work I'm doing … I've also adapted some of the debate on how best to wash up in a task for secondary school students. I have not engaged in depth with forums before, and it was a useful way of having a debate. I hope to encourage my … students next year to engage in debate with each other about some key issues. …. It has been very worthwhile following what's been going on, and I hope it will be repeated next year and subsequently. I hope you'll be able to archive the files including debates, as I'm still mining these resources.

22. Learning from NOOC1 • Power relations (UG/PG/Staff) • Status of activities (assessed, non-assessed) • Clarity of guidance (history tasks) • Impact of facilitation style • More interaction – feedback videos, webinars, wordles, Delicious, face to face tutorial support • Linking to other events – Films, conferences, surveys – across all campuses

23. Multiple Outcomes model Core learning repurposed for different groups Moving inwards from the margins

24. Thank you Sarah.speight@nottingham.ac.uk Academic Director for Online Learning The University of Nottingham