I didn't take notes, but here's some reflections on the [ROL] lunch which was a little face to face gathering of a handful of people who survived trialling new LMSs last semester. It is important to note that the ROL group is independent of the LOLAC (Learn Online Advisory Committee), although several people belong to both.
A rambling summary
Barbara awarded certificates to staff participants in the LMS trial, shared an update of the [LMS trial report] (being prepared by Anita Crotty) and the data collected from staff and students through the trial. Barbara also asked the group to consider its future and use of allocated research funds. Final decision on this latter topic will be delayed until the arrival of the new head of TEDS, Helen Carter in mid-September.
Highlights of the discussion which ensued for me were (feel free to remind what I've left out):
Matt shared that WebCT is not supported by ICTS as a critical system (in the same way for example that Callista, Finance One, etc. are treated - i.e., if the systems go down out of hours, they will be fixed). This needs to be clarified with ICTS because with the "one site per unit" policy, Learn Online websites are core business and critical. James indicated that there was verbal indication in the second meeting of the [ICTS Users Forum] recently that WebCT would be fixed if it went down out of hours.
Gus made the point that most staff have only used WebCT and therefore their thinking is constrained with regard to online teaching and learning by WebCT. Gus suggested that we need to find ways of exposing teaching staff to other possibilities. I think this is a topic worth further consideration.
Peter provided input in several important areas, and helped to tie the threads of the conversation together and move it along. Along with Sue, Peter is bastion of common sense with plenty of corporate history.
Sue, shared that she has begun preparing training material on how to use UCSpace which is a valuable initiative. I think we need to push to get UCSpace and WebCT recognised as core business systems and that the university needs to support training in this area. This could be funded through the recent $4m federal grant which is being put towards IT initiatives.
Chris shared her experience, as someone who considers herself not particularly tech-savvy, with using wikis and blogs in teaching a unit about disabilities. Last semester her students collaborated on a wiki to develop disability-related policy which were then submitted to the relevant government department. An excellent example of real-world, collaborative learning using Web2.0 tools. I think everyone was quite moved to hear about this example. Chris has four papers in the works about her experiences. Equally interesting, however, was that Chris reported that she also had her students publically blogging, but that there issues with regard to privacy when students started revealing names of people in the community and that the blogging experiment was consequently shut down. Chris used Rob Fitzgerald's http://community.mashedlc.edu.au
, although I haven't been able to find her unit yet.
Andrew shared about his interest in pursuing the use of blogging as a reflection tool. There appears to be at least a handful staff now exploring blogging.
Carole listened thoughtfully and asked pertinent questions. She made the suggestion (which was well received) that staff involved in the LMS trial and with ongoing experiments and ideas about online tools for teaching write up case studies and papers outlining future possible and recommended future directions in online and blended learning at UC.
James suggested that it is critical that [usability] data from students who used the different systems be added to the data collected for the [LMS trial report]. It is of concern that 60% (25 out of 42) students indicated they preferred WebCT. He also suggested UC consider the strategic value in UC forking to provide:
- a standard LMS to meet the needs of most staff and students (this could be D2L or an open source alternative such as Moodle)
- space to encourage and allow innovative staff online learning projects, such as using wikis, blogs, and file sharing via UCSpace
James is recommending a Sem 1, 2008 run-off trial between D2L, an open source alternative, and an endorsed trial of UCSpace as an alternative to an LMS. He floated the notion of thinking more terms of [personal learning environment]s than LMSs.
Final thoughts - ROL - where to from here?
After reflecting on the meeting, my mind kept returning to the question of what does this group want to do? End? Continue as is? Or evolve. The more I think about it, the more I prefer the latter option. I think the groups needs new blood - there's been a steady decline due to staff departures. So, I think we need to throw the doors open and re-invigorate the group by inviting other staff interested in exploring and experimenting with technology in learning, research, and service. I also think the scope should be broadened beyond "researching online learning". There are staff who could have very valuable input into the methodologies of online learning without necessarily wanting to to do research on this topic. For one thing, for example, its more important for most academics to be publishing in their discipline area, but they may still want to develop their online teaching repertoire.
Reflections on the ROL Lunch
