Tag: learning

market insights

A picture of some of our interns. Picture not taken by me. Original at: http://www.teaching-matters-blog.ed.ac.uk/mini-series-turning-internships-into-blog-posts-and-friendship-into-teamwork/

We all know the job market is crazy at the moment.  Some industries are not recruiting at all, others are scrabbling to get the best expertise they need for this new world.  The market for learning technologists is hot and  I’ve never seen so many job ads out.

Here’s what I am seeing at Edinburgh:

  • We advertised for student summer interns. We planned to take 20, we got 100+ applications and we are taking 45.
  • We advertised for Learning Technology Support Officers. Again, over 100 applicants, we’ll aim to appoint five.
  • We advertised for Senior Content Designers  in March and got 12 applicants, for a similar role in June we now have 52.
  • We advertised for a Learning Technology Team Manager, got 45 applicants, appointed one.
  • We advertised for Project Managers and got  75+ applicants, including many people who had previously been working only as contractors.
  • We still struggle for the  properly technical roles though….. if you know anyone who can be our new e-learning systems developer we really need them. Good money.  Great team. Closing this week. https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/CAD662/elearning-systems-developer

Another solution may be to try to grow your own learning technologists in house. We are giving that a go too.

 

grow your own learning technologists in-house

If you have a shortage of learning technologists about the place, you may need to  grow your own in-house.

If you can find colleagues who have a lively interest in learning and teaching and excellent digital skills, just sprinkle with them with a nutritious training programme and try to equip them with the resilience for coping with a lot of crop.

Our excellent teams in LTW have come up with a new learning technologist training toolkit.

This toolkit provides learning design and digital skills development resources and training for those new to working with learning technology, whether they have just joined the University or have moved internally from another role. It can be used as part of an on-boarding plan, or more generally for skills development.

The toolkit aims to build a foundation level of knowledge across our pool of learning technologists, covering the core learning technologies used at the University alongside learning design practices. Details of school-specific tools and practices should be added locally. 

Additionally, the toolkit aims to develop and maintain the University’s network of Learning Technologists through which you can meet others in similar roles, keep up to date with the fast-changing teaching landscape, share good practice and support each other. 

The toolkit offers flexibility through providing a variety of guidance and training, which you can work through on a self-study basis. In recognition of the variety of roles that exist in this area, you should use the toolkit on a pick-and-mix basis identifying with your manager which areas are most relevant to your role. 

The toolkit is based on Jisc’s Developing Digital Capability model and Learning Technologist role profile, job descriptions of learning technology roles advertised in the University in May 2020, and the University’s Digital Skills Framework. For further information, see the Digital Skills and Training web pages at https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/help-consultancy/is-skills/programmes-courses-and-toolkits/development-programmes/new-learning-technologist or email us at is.skills@ed.ac.uk. 

 

This post can be read in conjunction with this one which describes how we re-skilled library shelving assistants to be learning technology assistants.

developing data skills for all

You’ll be aware that we have been running ‘Developing Your Data Skills’ Programme for staff and students at University of Edinburgh this year. The programme has been very successful and we have now had more than 100 learners complete. Since our staff live and work in Edinburgh and the region, I think this can be seen as part of the investment we are making in retraining and upskilling in data skills for the city. We have evaluated the programme and gathered feedback, so we will be able to report on the ISG KPIs.

We have designed the course to fit with participants’ busy working lives and thought specifically about how to attract mid-career learners to upskill in this area.

https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/help-consultancy/is-skills/programmes-courses-and-resources/development-programmes/data-skills

Participants have enjoyed the programme:
‘There are many data courses out there. Having a course which is specifically designed and at the correct level was time-saving and encouraged me to finish. I loved doing the course and I’m keen to get started on the next level. I would not have been able to do this without the course format, nor the tutor with her helpful, caring approach.’.

There have been many more comments from participants that echo these sentiments along with a real thirst from learners to go on to study all 3 levels of the Programme.

We will be having a ‘graduation ‘ celebration for all the staff and students who completed the programme on Monday 1st July. If you would like to come along to hear more about the successes and how they plan to apply their new and improved data science skills, please let me know by reply and I will send you a diary invitation.

teaching matters

Cool graphic designed by our cool LTW graphic design service

Teaching Matters is the University of Edinburgh’s website, blog and podcast about learning and teaching, for sharing ideas and approaches to teaching, and for showcasing our successes, including academic  and professional colleagues who are leading the way in delivering brilliant teaching.

ISG’s LTW staff are regular contributors. Here is a selection of our writings:
17th April 2019 Podcast: Can blogging be used as an effective form of assessment?
17th April 2019 Mini-series: Great examples of using blogs in teaching
16th April 2019 Building academic community through professional development: The value of reflection and motivation
16th April 2019 Transcending international boundaries online to create a global community
3rd April 2019 Mini-series: From blogging for assessment to blogging for pleasure
20th March 2019 Mini-series: Blogging about Diverse Collections
6th March 2019 Mini-series: Academic blogging at University of Edinburgh
28th February 2019 Course and Programme Design: Cycling through the ELDeR process
21st November 2018 Mini-series: A summary of recently published lecture recording papers
14th November 2018 Mini-series: Don’t panic! Content and copyright for lecture recording
8th November 2018 Mini-series: Chalk, Talk and Tech: Blending technology and tradition
12th September 2018 Mini-series: Why Edinburgh is offering lecture recording at scale
5th September 2018 Mini-series: Lecture recording at Edinburgh – the journey so far
7th September 2017 Lecture Recording: What does research say about its effect on attendance?
4th July 2017 Why multimedia matters: promoting the use of video in assessment and feedback

16th June 2016 Networking around technology and teaching – assessment and feedback

16th May 2016 Diversifying the medical curriculum using open educational resources
1st April 2016 Open Educational Resources (OERs)
31st March 2016 Why does open matter?
16th February 2016 Massive reach for online learning

Adulting

The Radcliffe Camera, Oxford

I am honoured to have been invited to join the Centenary Commission on Adult Education. The membership of the Commission is as follows:

  • Dame Helen Ghosh DCB (Chair)- Master of Balliol College, Oxford. Previously Chief Executive, The National Trust; Permanent Secretary, Home Office; Permanent Secretary, Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs.
  • Sir Alan Tuckett OBE (Vice Chair) -Professor, University of Wolverhampton. Previously Chief Executive, National Institute of Adult Continuing Education; President, International Council for Adult Education.
  • Melissa Benn- Author, novelist, journalist, broadcaster. Chair, Comprehensive Future; Council member, New Visions for Education Group; founder member, Local Schools Network; Advisory Board member, Oxford Women in the Humanities.
  • Lord (Karan) Bilimoria CBE – Co-founder & Chairman, Cobra Beer; Chancellor, University of Birmingham.
  • Dr Sharon Clancy-Chair, Raymond Williams Foundation. Previously Head of Community Partnerships, University of Nottingham; Chief Executive, Mansfield Council for Voluntary Service.
  • Uzo Iwobi OBE -Chief Executive Officer, Race Council Cymru. Previously Principal Equality Officer, South Wales Police; member of the Commission for Racial Equality.
  • Melissa Highton -Assistant Principal, Online Learning and Director of Learning, Teaching & Web Services, University of Edinburgh.
  • Roger McKenzie-Assistant General Secretary, Unison. Previously Vice Chair, West Midlands Assembly; Midlands Regional Secretary, TUC; Race Equality Officer, TUC.
  • Sir Ken Olisa OBE -Chairman, Shaw Trust; Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London; founder & Chairman, Restoration Partners; Deputy Master, Worshipful Company of Information Technologists.
  • Sue Pember OBE- Director, Holex (professional body for Adult Community Education and Learning). Previously lead Director for FE, Dept for Business Innovation & Skills (BIS) and Dept for Education & Skills (DfES); Principal, Canterbury College of F&HE.
  • Paul Roberts -Chief Executive Officer, Aspire, Oxford.
  • Dr Cilla Ross- Vice Principal, Co-operative College, Manchester.
  • Sir Peter Scott -Emeritus Professor of Higher Education, UCL Institute of Education. Previously Vice Chancellor, Kingston University, Pro-Vice Chancellor and Professor of Education, University of Leeds; Editor, The Times Higher Education Supplement.
  • Ruth Spellman OBE -General Secretary, Workers’ Educational Association. Previously Chief Executive of Chartered Management Institute, Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and Investors in People UK.

The whole thing is being facilitated by Jonathan Michie, President of Kellogg College.

We hope to provide authoritative, evidence-based, recommendations on how ‘lifewide’ adult education – i.e., for all aspects and stages of people’s lives, and not just for work – should develop over the decades ahead. Our remit is the same as proposed for the 1919 committee: “To consider the provision for, and possibilities of, Adult Education in Great Britain, and to make recommendations.”

The Commission’s report will, attempt to cover the following:

  1. The need for lifewide adult education. Globalisation, technology and the changing world of work; threats to democracy and social cohesion; new social movements; demographic changes.
  2. The state of British adult education today. Who provides; who takes part; who does not provide; who does not take part. What types of provision are made (subjects, approaches, locations, media, etc.), and what are not. The relative importance of different types of provision for different social groups.
  3. The British contribution to adult education. A brief discussion of approaches developed historically in Britain, and of new practices developing today, and their contribution to democracy, civil society and personal growth.
  4. What we can learn from international experience. From UNESCO to the OECD; key reports; the impact of the current ‘output and measurement’ craze; international research.
  5. The structures, institutions and systems we need. Types of provision. Priorities for government: legislation, regulation, fees, public spending. What non-governmental agencies might do: local government, voluntary organisations, FE and HE, schools, private companies, etc. Meeting the needs of communities and social groups. Strengthening democracy in teaching and curriculum development.
  6. Implementing the changes. How can the changes be brought about: overcoming the forces in government, media and society that have inhibited the development of lifewide adult education over recent decades.

That’ll keep us busy!

 

last night I dreamt I went to St Cecilia’s again

Actually, I didn’t dream it. I was there to present to Academic Senate. Senate means ‘old men’, in case you didn’t know. It’s from the Latin.

Our Senate at Edinburgh University is actually fairly mixed, and the room was packed for a discussion about ‘The Future of Distance Learning’, and that is my bag.

St Cecilia’s Hall was looking lovely. Much better than the first time I visited.

I have to say though, the AV technology brought in for the event, while lovely, and useful, kinda spoiled the point of the venue. St Cecilia’s is famous for its age and its accoustics. It is set out with amphitheatre steps to sit on around the sides like those Latin-speaking senators might have done in ancient times.  I think we should have spoken from the performance area without ppt slides* and been our own projectors.

St Cecilia’s Hall, University of Edinburgh

In case you are wondering , University of Edinburgh currently has about 2,920  distance learning students studying via online programmes at Masters level. We have 65 programmes – (with about 100 permutations).

In terms of cohort size, 7 out of top 10 are CMVM programmes. Surgical Sciences peaked in 2014/15 (155) and has returned to its previous steady state level (105).  Yes, we do teach surgery online. Most other programmes teach fewer than 35 students per year.

For the demographic fans amongst you we have 62% women studying online masters compared with 57% of all masters students. Our online students are also  older  than our on-campus ones.  88% are over 25. We have students from 134 countries studying online. 60% reside outside the UK; but that is not very different from the domicile of our on campus students. The top 6 countries are all English speaking ( Scotland, England USA, Australia, Canada, Ireland)  and account for 59% of students

A significant difference in the student mix is that there are few Chinese online students, whereas they account for 21% of campus based PGT students. Our MOOC learners come from all over the world… but despite there being 2million of them, only 80 apply for online masters.

Only 1.4 % of our online learners are  our alumni.

Alumnus is also Latin, it means ‘foster-son or pupil’. Alumna is for women.

 

 

*I had lovely slides designed by Yujia in a colour scheme to match the venue as you can see.

 

epic fail

Picture taken by me at Berkeley University. No rights reserved by me.

Failure  is all the rage amongst the ladies of my acquaintance. How much of a failure can you be today?  this week?  Is it time for a wee sit down now? Yes. You deserve it. (1) (2)

I work in a place where people often make declarations about innovation and ‘creating an environment where it is safe to fail’.

I sometimes wonder what that means. What would a workplace in which it is safe to fail look like?

Would it look like a bunch of people  being a bit crap at their jobs and experiencing no consequence as a result?  No! it would look like a place where there was visible sign of recognition that when we learn from our failures we move forward as a result.

It would look like a place that hosts a ‘Fail-a-thon’.

When we start a project, we have a plan or idea how the project will pan out, what the outcomes will be, and the benefits of what is delivered. For various reasons  however, things do not always go to plan and we should learn from those experiences. What and why did something go wrong and with reflection what could have been done differently? One platform to learn from each other is a Failathon. The ISG Innovation programme will hold a Failathon on Wednesday 28th June 2017 between 14:00 – 16:00.

“Only a fool learns from his own mistakes. The wise person learns from the mistakes of others”

Our Failathon is an opportunity for learning from each other’s failures outside formal routes. We’re running with the title “Beyond Failure”, sharing personal experiences of failures and setbacks in a supportive atmosphere. The session will focus on what we can do to improve as a community, working in small groups to develop prioritised agendas for change in how we use and create evidence.

This event is open to any Innovation project managers who are willing to share their experience of a project that has not gone as expected or planned.  If you aren’t prepared to share your ‘fail’, you don’t get in. Share your experiences of when things don’t go so well.

You don’t need to do any special preparation, but you do need to be prepared to talk about your own mistakes, and respect the confidentiality of the session. This event will be held under the Chatham House Rule and hosted by ISG Director, Kevin Ashley.

 

Book your place now.

learning technology time

picture taken by me at Gartner conf. No rights reserved by me.

As Professor Sir Tim O’Shea is retiring  I am putting together a timeline of learning technology developments at University of Edinburgh. Are there other things I should include?

busy bees

Picture taken by me in the street in Galsgow. No rights reserved by me.
Picture taken by me in the street in Glasgow. No rights reserved by me.

You may be interested to know what the LTW teams have been doing to support you in the last 6 months.

To support the development of digital skills since January 2016, the Digital Skills Programme has delivered 136 face-to-face courses, to c.1400 attendees, across all Colleges and Support Groups, using 40 tutors from across ISG.

To support capacity building for online learning 25 staff across the University have signed up for the recently launched CMALT programme for learning technologists.

To support online learning at scale we have delivered 8 pilot Learning Design workshops with 21 programmes interested in holding workshops in the future.

To support sharing and use of video MediaHopper now holds more than 5,000 video items uploaded by staff and students. Around 10% using a creative commons license (OER). 200 people have been trained to use the new media tools.

To ensure that users can understand and engage with our University we have published 51,000 published pages on Edweb.

To ensure that our students can gain work experience alongside their studies we’ve employed more than 20 student interns.

To make you more comfortable we’ve upgraded 300 open access PCs  and refurbished 52 rooms and spaces.

To make the world a safer place we have launched MyLungsMyLife and Self-Help for Stroke web projects  at the Scottish Parliament.

And that’s all on top of maintaining, running, patching and upgrading all the major systems and services you use for teaching and learning every day.