Presentation of PhD progress at Research Student Conference, University of Northampton, 23 June 2017

1. digital shifts
Sue Watling
@suewatling
s.watling@hull.ac.uk
https://digitalacademicblog.wordpress.com
8th Annual Research Student Conference
University of Northampton 23rd - 24th June 2017
how staff in UK HE conceptualise learning and
teaching in a digital age

2. Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL)

3. Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL)
• Tradition versus Innovation
• on-campus digital divides
• digitally fluent/digitally shy
• technofans/technophobes
• self exclusion of late majority/laggards
• Gap in the literature
• e-learning not e-teaching
• research topic

4. Teaching and Learning in a Digital Age (TELEDA)
•postgraduate course 30 credits each
•involved
• experiential learning
• reflective practitioner
• digital pedagogies and practices
•staff enrolled on VLE as students
•Iterative loops of evaluation
• Participatory Action Research (PAR)
•TELEDA = PhD data!
PG Cert
Digital Education
TELEDA 2
social media
and e-resources
TELEDA 1
learning design
and open education
TELEDA Pilot
e-learning
and e-teaching

5. Community of Inquiry
• Garrison and Anderson (2003)
• Presences; teaching, cognitive,
social
Digital Capabilities
Those capabilities which fit an
individual for living, learning and
working in a digital society.

6. Research title
• Digital Shifts; how staff conceptualise the pedagogic
changes from face-to-face interaction to technology
enhanced learning?
Research questions
• How can an experiential approach to an online teacher
education course support staff in UK HE to make the
pedagogic shift to technology enhanced learning?
• How does the Community of Inquiry model of online
learning design influence the acquisition and development
of digital capital?

7. Research aim:
• to investigate the influences on staff attitudes practices with
regard to technology enhanced learning (TEL)
Research objectives:
• Utilise the Teaching and Learning in a Digital Age (TELEDA) courses to
examine staff attitudes and practices towards technology enhanced learning
• Explore and critically assess the value of experiential learning for reaching
late adopters of technology enhanced design and practice
• Critically analyse the effectiveness of the Community of Inquiry model for
building a collegial network of digital knowledge and support
• Investigate and identify how the Community of Inquiry model supports the
development of digital capital for the enhancement of teaching and
learning.

8. Research Deliverables
•An agile ‘toolkit’ supporting the development of
technology enhanced pedagogic design and practice.
•A model of digital capabilities appropriate for activity-
based teaching and learning in a digital age
•Assessment and reconstruction:
• Community of Inquiry model
• Adoption of innovative practice curve
•Digital Capabilities framework for teaching and learning

9. the enormous turnip

11. Issues to be addressed
• Insider Research (researching within your own
institution)
• Practitioner Research (focusing on your own practice)
• Participatory Action Research (method of data
collection)

12. Progress so far….
• Revised the title, aims and objectives
• Identified research deliverables
• Re-reviewing the literature
• Mendelay to manage references
• Data analysis
• Using Nvivo to identify themes
• Looking at influences on attitudes and practices towards TEL
• Come to the data with an open mind
• Let the data speak/let the data surprise you

13. Data sources
• TELEDA pilot (2013) e-teaching and e-learning
• TELEDA One (2014) learning design and open education
• TELEDA Two (2015) social media and e-resources
• Data included
• Evaluations
• Forum discussions
• Reflective journals
• Activities
• Eportfolios
• Semi-structured interviews with course participants
• My own action research log

14. What is qualitative research?
an inquiry approach in which the inquirer:
• analyzes and codes the data for description and
themes
• interprets the meaning of the information drawing on
personal reflections and past research
• writes the final report that includes personal biases
and a flexible structure
(from Creswell 2002, p. 58)

15. Researching Learning, Learning to Research
• Conference themes Innovation, Change, Impact and Engagement
• Need to view an increasingly digital society with a critical lens
• Need to authenticate and evaluate online sources of data
• Understand how digital identity and safety matters
• Learn about open education and digital inclusion
• We are increasingly tracked and monitored online
• Investigatory Powers Act 2016
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2016/25/contents/enacted
• Government Digital Strategy Bill
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-digital-strategy/uk-digital-
strategy
• Government Digital Economy Bill (2017) still going through Parliament
http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2016-17/digitaleconomy.html

16. Research Publications
• Watling, Sue (2015) e-teaching as companion to e-learning; supporting digital
pedagogies and practice with academics in higher education. In Compass:
Journal of Learning and Teaching, University of Greenwich, vol 8 issue 12
https://journals.gre.ac.uk/index.php/compass/article/view/270
• Watling, Sue. (2015) Digital diversity in higher education. Paper presented at
SRHE Conference, Newport, South Wales, December 2015
http://www.srhe.ac.uk/conference2015/abstracts/0213.pdf
• Watling, Sue (2014) e-teaching craft and practice. In: Rhetoric and Reality:
Critical perspectives on educational technology. University of Otago, New
Zealand, pp. 431-435. http://ascilite2014.otago.ac.nz/files/concisepapers/75-
Watling.pdf
• Watling, Sue (2012) Invisible publics: higher education and digital exclusion. In:
Towards teaching in public: reshaping the modern university. Continuum
International Publishing Group Ltd.
• Watling, Sue (2009) Technology-enhanced learning: a new digital divide? In:
The future of higher education: policy, pedagogy and the student experience.
Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd.