Notes from Compass Pathfinder Steering Group Meeting - 21 February 2008

The third of the Steering Group meetings for LSBU's pathfinder project took place on 21 February. Jon Warwick chaired the meeting in Peter McCaffery's absence, and other attendees were Sarah Bell, Ruth Brown, Helen George, Russell Kenny, Laurence Marlow and Joanne Monk. Apologies were also received from Janet Cattini.

Helen provided the members of the Steering Group with a background of the clustering methodology used in the Pathfinder Phase 1 project, and updated them on the activities of the project since last they met:

1. The LSBU team met with Prof Gráinne Conole, Cluster C's critical friend, on 3 December. In addition to discussing the project with the team, she also met with members of the Steering Group and leaders of some of the sub-projects that are feeding into Compass. Her style of mentoring is pushing the team (and the cluster) towards scholarly outcomes without sacrificing practical results.
   
2. Achievement of scholarly outcomes from the LSBU project so far: Poster presentation at HELTASA 2007, acceptance of case study paper, Equipping academics to adapt to the complexities of the digital age, at EdMedia 2008.
   
3. Cluster C met twice during the period - on 5 December at Cambridge and on 7 February at Reading. A part of the time at each meeting was assigned to developing workshops for presentation at EdMedia 2008 and ALT-C 2008. A cluster poster presentation has been accepted by the Networked Learning Conference 2008. The cluster will be represented by Maria Papaefthimiou of the University of Reading.
   
4. Meetings have been held with all the sub-project groups that are feeding into Compass, and follow-up meetings are planned. Two of the three Carpe Diem workshops with the University of Leicester have taken place and were enthusiastically received by participants.
   
5. The University's e-Learning Conference in May will be used to showcase the project to academics.

The Faculty of Engineering, Science and the Built Environment are to use an adapted version of the ICT survey tool across the whole faculty, with a focus on academics and those who support learning. This use of the survey will improve the proportion of staff who participated in the survey. The main anticipated outcomes are:

• Identification of the level of staff confidence in using ICT;
• Concrete understanding of the potential of existing tools to meet ICT needs, and identifying the new tools that need to be acquired;
• Categorisation of the different requirements of different disciplines for ICT skills.

Helen is to discuss the possibility of interviewing staff - in focus groups, at departmental meetings or one-to-one - with Chris Dowlen and Heads of Departments. We will use this opportunity to encourage people to upgrade their e-skills using the HE Academy's Professional Development Framework.

It was mentioned that many of the Phase 1 Pathfinder projects focused on the development of staff in one way or another, and LSBU has suggested to the HE Academy that a special interest group with a focus on staff development might be a useful way forward. Since the last Steering Group meeting, Cambridge had heard that they had not been successful in their NTFS project bid.

The project is on track for outputs, and Helen noted to the Steering Group that LSBU has met its contractual requirements thus far.

A part-time learning technologist has been appointed to work on the ICT training modules, and an extra module that covers the pedagogy of e-learning has been agreed upon. Work on writing up the case study outputs will start after the Easter break.

The last meeting of the Steering Group is on Friday, 16 May.

Update on the Compass project

Each of the 28 universities in the Phase 1 Pathfinder project was challenged to present its project at the Interim Meeting in York on the 12th and 13th of February using a single PowerPoint slide. This is the mindmap that we developed to represent LSBU's venture:

The skills line (red)

A set of 17 skills-centred modules has been identified as being necessary to enable staff in various roles to engage with the technology necessary to their particular positions. There is a small core of modules which are generally appropriate to all roles; the majority are related to particular positions and it is appropriate to take individual pathways through the programme. A .2 learning technologist has been appointed and is engaged in further development of the skills-centred modules.

The pedagogic line (green)

An 18^th module – Pedagogy of eLearning – has been proposed for incorporation into the existing set of skills-focussed modules. The new module will be developed by Ruth Brown. There are strong links between the sub-projects line and the pedagogic line which are forged in the relationship with the University of Leicester's ADDER project and the Carpe Diem workshops with course teams.

The sub-project line (purple)

Three core groups have emerged from the sub-project groups initially approached to feed into Compass; these are centred around assessment, induction and online course delivery. A granular approach is being taken to writing up the case studies emerging from these groups: mini-studies that address different aspects are being written up. These can then be incorporated in a “mix ’n match” framework by different individuals or teams wishing to use the outputs from the Compass project.

Arising out of the “assessment” part of the Compass project, LSBU is submitting an expression of interest to the HE Academy for funding to explore the use of online feedback to students as a means to create individual feedback profiles for students, and thus to identify those areas in which individual students would benefit by focussing upon.

The induction group is inviting other interested parties to join in brainstorming how the virtual learning environment can be used as a tool that improves the rate of converting offers to potential students into enrolments.

The mainline connection (pink/white)

The 3 Carpe Diem workshops with course teams from Media, Psychology and Education, run by a team from Leicester's ADDER project, have been generally well-received, and a follow-up "embedding day" is being arranged for each of the course teams. In addition to 16 members of course teams from the Faculty of Arts and Human Sciences who participated in the 3 workshops, academics from each of the other 3 faculties played different roles in the workshops - as reality checkers and learning technologists; 3 information advisors were involved; and members of the Staff Development Unit and the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit were also on hand.

In all, 32 members of LSBU's staff were involved in the workshops, along with 2 observers from other universities - Reading and New South Wales. We believe that engaging as many staff members as we did will lead to the methodology being adapted and embedded at LSBU.

Zone 1 & 2 activities

The university's forthcoming Learning & Teaching conference is an opportunity to headline the work of the participating sub-projects, and to incorporate innovative approaches to e-learning from external presenters. There will be 2 strands representing pedagogy and practice.

Zone 3 activities

On 7 December, cluster C met at Reading, and a further meeting is scheduled at Brunel; there was also an opportunity to meet at the phase 1 interim meeting in York on 12/13 February. The time at Reading was spent preparing for the presentation the following week at the York meeting, and designing a workshop which we have submitted to AltC’s September conference.

A case study paper about the Compass project, “Equipping academics to adapt to the complexities of the digital age”, has been accepted for EdMedia 2008. Cluster C is also working on a symposium submission under the 2^nd call for papers that focuses on different strategies to embed e-learning and engage academics across institutions.

A workshop proposal, “Strategies for adopting an evidence-based approach to embedding e-learning” has been submitted to AltC 2008. This workshop uses an interactive poster methodology.

Ruth Brown has been invited by the University of Leicester to represent their ADDER project at Transforming Assessment and Feedback: A blueprint for change.