Shirley Bennett Sue Lee Patrick Lynch

1. Collaborative Observation On-Line (COOL): Addressing  under-exploitation of the potential of Technology Supported Learning (TSL) by the development of online peer observation processes Shirley Bennett Sue Lee Patrick Lynch

2. Workshop Overview COOL / NOPO – • Why? and What? – the aim/purpose and core model • How? • Issue 1: COOL to meet staff development needs • Issue 2: COOL as a tool in mainstreaming TSL • Exploration of aspects of implementation: opportunities, challenges, enhancement and engagement

3. But first ... Hands up if ... You have a • Green sticker ? - you teach / support learners online using a VLE • Blue sticker? – you want to start teaching / supporting learners online using a VLE • Yellow sticker? – you work with / support staff who teach / support learners online using a VLE • Red sticker? – what “other” role do you have? Get into groups with • at least one green or blue sticker • As many different colour stickers as possible! • People you don’t know!

4. ActivityCOOL – Focus on Why?

5. Activity 1: Attitudes + barriers to TSL Look at the points coming up in our institutions: • Attitudes to TSL • Problems in TSL • Barriers to TSL In your group consider: • How typical are such statements? • What other attitudes / barriers have you met in your own context?

6. A core issue with TSL... http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2007/03/15/knFUZZ_wideweb__470x287,0.jpg “the majority of tutors new to online teaching do not have that background of online learning experience upon which to draw in the same way as trainee teachers starting out in classroom teaching can draw upon their personal classroom learning experiences which will date back from their early years at school.” Bennett & Marsh, 2002

7. A strategy we have piloted is Peer Observation... “a process whereby a teacher participates as an observer in a lesson taught by a colleague for purposes of exploring the learning and teaching process and environment.” Bennett and Barp (2006)

8. Institutional Policy on Peer Observation • This code applies to all University staff undertaking teaching in any form. The principles should be applied appropriately given the nature and extent of each teaching activity. .... • peer observation is viewed as a two-way process, which recognises that both observing and being observed are beneficial to enhancing learning and teaching • peer observation is only one aspect of the University’s quality assurance and enhancement mechanisms. The view of an individual observer is not a definitive judgement of the quality of an individual’s teaching. • each full-time member of staff should be observed a minimum of once in each academic year • each part-time member of staff should be observed in accordance with a schedule agreed with their head of department and which reflects the extent of their teaching commitment, provided that s/he should be observed no less than once in every three years • over a three year period each member of staff should be observed in a full range of teaching activity in which s/he is involved.

9. ActivityPolicy and Practice

10. Flipchart In your institutions .... • How similar is YOUR policy? • If you teach ... • How often have you been observed in the past 3 years? • Why were you observed?

11. Three Models (Gosling 2002)

12. http://129.79.22.9/linear/tandem/kevin_kelly_tandem.jpg Peer Observation of Online Teaching The core model http://www.sstd-dataweb.clrc.ac.uk/Activities/Gallery/rfq.accelerator.jpg The primary purpose is that teachers, one acting as observer and one being observed, engage in mutual reflection on a teaching session in order that both can learn from it in order to inform future practice. (McMahon, 2007: 502)

13. “Observee” choice over: • Participation √ • Choice of observer √ • Focus of Observation √ • Form of feedback √ • Information flow √ • Future action √ (McMahon, 2007: 502) http://www.successgis.com/images/success2.JPG

14. The Negotiated Contract Observer or observed only? Experience of online learning Module delivery Focus of observation Asynchronous/synchronous observation? Dates Negotiated Online Peer Observation

15. A structured process ... 3 Stages Preparation Observation Discussion Scene-Setting Discussion Of Objectives “Agenda” Observation Notes in line with “Agenda” Feedback Reflection + Discussion Points for the Future

16. Stage 1 Faculty of HealthLevel 4 module - Social Inclusion Team identified typical problems with students’ engagement: • The ‘yes man’ format. • The ‘post and run' or mini-essay, format! Could you look at the level of interaction between tutor and student group? – i.e. is the facilitator effectively absent or over-bearing? 3 semi-synchronous discussions Blackboard 6 Discussion Forum Team-based engagement in observation project Team discussion of past experiences > individual agendas > observation Sometimes it’s difficult to know where to begin if the group has already started. Sometimes I wonder if they actually need me to say anything at all but I feel compelled to make a posting just to highlight that I am here.

17. Stage 2 - The Observation itself

18. Stage 3 - Feedback, Reflection, Discussion “I noticed …. “ “I wondered …” “One idea might be …” “ How did you DO that???” “One thing I’d like to try is …” http://static.flickr.com/2/2070428_12a90059fc.jpg

19. F2F Workshop 3 Stages Preparation Observation Observation Observation Discussion Discussion Discussion Scene-Setting Discussion Of Objectives “Negotiated Contract” Observation Observation Observation Feedback Reflection + Discussion Points for the Future Feedback Reflection + Discussion Points for the Future Feedback Reflection + Discussion Points for the Future

20. OnLine.... 3 Stages 3 Stages 3 Stages Preparation Preparation Preparation Observation Observation Observation Discussion Discussion Discussion Scene-Setting Discussion Of Objectives “Negotiated Contract” Scene-Setting Discussion Of Objectives “Negotiated Contract” Scene-Setting Discussion Of Objectives “Negotiated Contract” Observation Observation Observation Feedback Reflection + Discussion Points for the Future Feedback Reflection + Discussion Points for the Future Feedback Reflection + Discussion Points for the Future

21. Activity Issue 1: COOL to meet staff development needs

22. Stage 1 - Setting the focus Starting Point – Your interests – Your development • What are your goals in your use of a VLE to support students’ learning? Are they being achieved? • Are there aspects of the online materials and/or site design that you would like to investigate, or reflect on further? • What aspects of student online learning and use of the VLE would be most interesting for you to explore? • Is there an aspect of your own online teaching / support role that you would like to change? Adapted from Gosling and O’Connor 2006

23. COOL points of focus - A sample Am I being harsh? … Am I being fair? … Am I facilitating and moderating the discussion or am I just letting them get on with it…? Am I engaging in the discussion enough or too much? So those are my concerns Time-Management within the threads – are the students given sufficient time to answer? I want to look at the level of my material and the content of it whether that’s appropriate. … I think students find it hard to say the level’s too high, too low, your contents’ too large or it’s too small. So you can’t always look to them to give you the feedback that you want really. It would be good to have feedback on quality and quantity of the feedback that I give to students. Do I make too many postings when postings are thin on the ground? Am I challenging enough? Am I “too content-driven”? By this I mean do I seem pre-occupied with signposting literature, explaining ideas etc? I was interested to know whether the discussion boards actually help us … because as a learning disability nurse I feel passionately on social inclusion and that y’know that arches over everything that we do hopefully in the boards, and I know that we are supposed to be able to tell whether the students have got it by the work that they produce at the end, but I think we know that there are lots of other ways to pass the assignment than going on the discussion boards… So one of the things that I was interested to know was whether there was actually relevant social inclusion content coming out as a result of the conversations that we were having.

24. This is one of the reasons I want to engage with this, because, I suppose I’ve got a fair bit of experience of this sort of work, and, one thing I’m keen to do is, I know a lot of... key tips for supporting online learning, I want to make sure I‘m maintaining good practice, … things like, “say to the students when you can expect a reply”, often I’d usually say two working days, or something like that, but, you have your guidelines, which you make clear to the students, and I want to, this is a bit of an opportunity to make sure I’m still following good practice.

25. How Issue 2: COOL as a tool in mainstreaming TSL • If we are to move beyond early adopters of elearning, it is an aspect of mainstreaming technology-supported practice: • Support • Development • Quality enhancement • ... As of other aspects of practice http://seattlesteve.files.wordpress.com/2007/07/2007072302-5.jpg

26. University of Hull • Pilots of Collaborative Observation On-Line since 2006: • Since 2006 as part of eTeaching Practice – MEd eLearning • 2006 – Leonardo project – 5 teachers across 4 countries, Level 4 modules, whole process online • 2008 – UoH Innovations Fund project – 12 teachers in 4 faculties, Levels 4-7, observation online, f2f discussion

27. University of Hull • 2008/9 - Transition Model - Learning from early adopters of the new VLE: • Transition from 2 established VLEs • Home grown VLE - Merlin - 11 years of use - • Blackboard basic - 7 years of use • c.1000 staff involved in VLE-use and over 3000 VLE sites • COOL as part of staged Transition – Sept 08 / Sept 09 • Transition viewed as opportunity to broaden and deepen VLE use

28. eBridgePeer Support Network eBridge Support Site – Support Forum Admin and Support Staff Network eBridge PDP Working Group eBridge eLearning Materials Collaborative Observation On-Line @ VLE Key Contacts Group

29. TSL at Staffordshire University • 1998 Adoption of Lotus Learning Space and COSE • 2002/2003 Adoption of Blackboard 5.5 • 2009 Upgrade to Blackboard 8 • Blackboard currently (May 09) has • 4103 courses • 900 Active courses ran during academic year 08/09 • 35,055 users registered in Blackboard (incl SURF) • Estimated 25,000 Students

30. University Strategic Plan for TSL • Activity for 2007-2012 • Put in place a system of learner-focused Quality Enhancement for TSL • Objectives by 2012 • Create an agile quality model based on communities of practice and linked to the dissemination of good practice and staff development making use of: • Peer observation of eLearning • Evaluation of eLearning designed to inform award leaders

31. ActivityAspects of Implementation...

33. Opportunties Online observation offers flexibility of • Context - cross boundaries of place, discipline and technology • Focus - different aspects of the OL teaching and learning process and roles • Timing of observation - Predictive / Retrospective / Concurrent • Depthof observation - Overview / Drill down

34. I would like to have seen more reference to learning from their peer observation and more reference to reading. Please pick one “Hot Seat” and see where I could have been more proactive in encouraging this? … I have not experienced inappropriate behaviour online - but providing guidance on netiquette can help with this.Have you observed inappropriate behaviour while doing your peer observation? If so, how did the observee deal with the situation? Studentswill also model the behaviour of their online tutor.Is there any evidence from your readings that supports this statement, or is it a personal impression? Regarding the skills difference between f2f and online….

35. Challenges • Time works differently - Identify a clear focus • Context is more fuzzy • Ethics - informing students • What’s in it for me? – more experienced participants • Scalability

36. Enhancement – need to support different models

37. COOL Afternoons Engagement?

38. Staff Comments .... • If I had peer observation on face to face teaching I wouldn’t necessarily, be so focussed on getting advice because I kind of know what works in a classroom, ... I don’t feel the same need for steering and avoiding pitfalls and getting to success quicker. I think you know we are all novices in the online environment • There’s more chance of somebody with more experience being able to say ‘Aye, but wait a minute have you thought about this?’ Whereas if we’d observed each other, nobody, I don’t think anybody in the module team would have thought to suggest breaking them into smaller groups because we’re not that experienced at working online • Well I mean I have got slight anxieties about being watched … coz all you ever hear is things that aren’t right. And so it could be another thing to just sort of get you down. I know that sounds a bit negative but …

39. Engagement ... 4 Stages Preparation Observation Discussion Dissemination Scene-Setting Discussion Of Objectives “Negotiated Contract” Observation Feedback Reflection + Discussion Points for the Future ?

40. To be continued .... • Shirley Bennett – s.bennett@hull.ac.uk • Sue Lee – s.c.lee@staffs.ac.uk • Patrick Lynch – p.lynch@hull.ac.uk