Caledonian Academy News

Last week Kathryn Trinder presented a live session at the JISC “Innovating e-Learning 2009 Online Conference: Thriving, not just surviving!“.
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/elpconference09

Placed in Theme 2 alongside John Kirriemuir, the two sessions looked at how virtual worlds such as Second Life are currently being used in the UK and beyond.

“Choosing the best virtual world for your teaching needs” John Kirriemuir (Consultant at http://virtualworldwatch.net/).

“Exploring the potential of virtual worlds for teaching and learning” Kathryn Trinder (Glasgow Caledonian University)

Kathryn talked about just some of the work that has been taking place at GCU exploring the potential of the virtual world Second Life for Learning & Teaching. Her presentation consisted of several pre recorded interviews where she chatted, in Second Life, to lecturers and staff about their work and some of their thoughts and findings from the projects. The presentation can be found here: http://www.slideshare.net/kathtrinder/ktrinder-jiscel09. The individual interviews can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/user/kathtrinder

In January JISC will make available access to the recorded session, along with summaries of the asynchrounous discussions.

With thanks to:

The SL Team in the School of Health (http://caledonianblogs.net/soh-secondlife/),
David Moffat in Computing & Engineering
Michael Bromby in Law
Frank Brown in CRLL
The CU There Team (http://www.gcal.ac.uk/cuthere/)

Kathryn

On April 28, 2009 Anoush Margaryan and Allison Littlejohn presented a paper titled “Self-regulated learning and knowledge sharing in the workplace” at the 2009 International Conference on Organisational Learning, Knowledge and Capabilities (OLKC) in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

OLKC is the leading international conference for researchers in the fields of organisational knowledge and learning.

The paper reports early findings of a study exploring how experts in a global multinational oil and gas company self-regulate their learning. It investigates experts’ perceptions of the impact of knowledge sharing on their learning and work. Findings indicate that self-regulated learning (SRL) is a highly social process that is structured by and deeply integrated with work tasks. Experts tend to draw heavily upon their personal networks of trusted colleagues in the process of diagnosing and attaining their learning goals. In contradiction to existing models, SRL in the workplace does not appear to be a clearly delineated, linear process comprised of discrete stages. The paper outlines some directions for further research in this area.

The slides of the presentation are available.

Anoush Margaryan has published a paper Supporting instructors in learning innovation: A three component approach in the Journal of Workplace Learning.

Abstract

The paper seeks to advance an approach to supporting instructors in adopting new models of teaching, particularly when new technology is involved. The approach comprises three components: conceptual principles underpinning new learning models; process by which instructors are supported in understanding and applying principles; and a technological platform which facilitates sharing of experiences and knowledge about the process and outcomes of innovation (3Ps approach). The design research methodology involved joint identification of problems with practitioners (target users of the approach), iterative testing of solutions in real-world settings and refining them based on practitioner input. Data collection methods involved walkthroughs, a questionnaire-based survey, and semi-structured interviews. The 3P approach was evaluated in relation to the key requirements – validity, practicality, and systemic aspects. The findings show that the approach is valid and practical in terms of its purpose of enhancing knowledge sharing and peer learning within and across the subject disciplines, as well as in terms of enabling contextualised professional development. However, sustainability and ease of adoption of the approach were perceived by instructors as somewhat problematic. Organisational and cultural factors that could impact the sustainability of the approach were identified. It is argued that the 3Ps approach could enable eliciting reflections on and instruments for successful practice and provide a forum for sharing, discussing or extending practice. This generic approach could be adapted to support professional development of instructors in a range of different contexts, both in companies and in educational institutions.

The Caledonian Academy is pleased to announce that we are running a small competition, as part of GCU’s ‘C U There’ initiative, to find pilot projects that will investigate potential uses of 3D virtual worlds to support learning and teaching within the University. view more

The Moving Forward Project: enhancing progression through partnership is an institution-wide project which is being coordinated by the Caledonian Academy. It will address a key strategic issue identified by the Senior Executive. view Moving Forward project website.

Real WoRLD stands for ‘Realising Work-Related Learning Diffusion’. Work-related learning is a key component of Glasgow Caledonian University’s Teaching, Learning and Assessment Strategy. One of its strategic goals is to build students’ competencies in the skills demanded by employers in a knowledge economy. This new project, organised by the Caledonian Academy, aims to raise the profile of employability across the university through encouraging all schools to embed work-related learning activities into their programmes, use innovative approaches in learning and teaching to enhance their students’ professional skills and engage with employers on a regular basis. View project website