Moving from content to people centred e-learning services

- challenges and opportunities

Alan Masson, University of Ulster

• e-learning – the story so far

• Physical campus developments

• Emerging learning support tools

• Issues around virtualising the LRC?

Timeline of e-learning @ UU

Establishing phase• Staff Development • User orientation / support• Remote resource access

Scaling Phase• Meeting increasing demand

Impact phase• Changing practice (impact)

Next Phase?

Key initial milestones

• VLE / SRS integration– Enrolment addressed

• VLE / Athens authentication– Athens related resource access addressed

• VLE / Library integration– Resource lists and related library services embedded

Scaling (2004 - 06)

• Exponential growth in usage• Need to respond to technical challenges of

supporting rapidly scaling service– Performance– Resilience (risk)

• Response - migration to WebCT Vista 4.x on a tiered architecture 2006

VLE usage (2006-07)

Metrics:1. >15k unique users2. circa 5k unique users / typical teaching day3. >9k user sessions / typical teaching day4. Typical peak loads c.650 users / 30Mbits/sec

Benchmarks:1. 75% of UU student FTE2. equiv to Coleraine campus student enrolment3. equiv to combined daily LRC access @ Magee and Jordanstown

campuses

Recent e-learning developments

• “Enterprising” of VLE• Integration of additional tools and services

with VLE• Enhancing “teacher moderated” virtual

classrooms

• Teaching focus

Recent campus developments

• Learning Resource Centres (LRCs)• Wireless connectivity• Development of “social spaces”

• Informal learning focus

Learning - independent of space and place

Learning - independent of space and place

Learning - independent of space and place

Informal learning online

• Explosion of Web 2.0 tools• Students use these in their own lives• Functionality transfers to learning• Learners own tools – more advanced than

HEI offerings

Learning Centre

• Brings together people and resources

• Supports range of “learning” styles– Individual or group– Formal or informal– Resource supported or shared space

• Use defined by learner!

People and resources together

Web 2.0 tools for learners

• Information / resources

Learners doing stuff together

Web 2.0 tools for learners

• Communication / community

Web 2.0 tools for learners

• Collaboration / creation

Web2.0 tool challenges

• Support and guidance• Inclusivity• Loss of added value information /

engagement opportunities• Perceived (lack of) value by fee-paying

learners• Do we / should we provide a “semi formal”

virtual LEARNING centre?

Building blocks for Virtual Learning Centre

• Elgg (social network – walled garden?)• Confluence (wiki with defined templates),

collaborative document tools• Wimba Pronto, e-mail and SMS• Missing – tagging service to complement Talislist &

catalogue• Common toolset to (and integrated) with VLE and

outside services• Learner managed

Benefits of Virtual Learning Centre

• Learner led• Bridge between formal and personal

environments• Access to people / resources / tools are

facilitated and supported• Learners - participants in resource workflows

(tagging, resource lists….)• “spaces” can have defined lifecycles

Community consideration

• “A relationship, I think, is like a shark. You know? It has to constantly move forward or it dies. And I think what we got on our hands is a dead shark.”

• Woody Allen (Annie Hall)

Cultural challenge

Leadership for this “service”?• Teaching and Learning• IT department• Library• E-learning• Estates

Possible context?

• “It seems to me that it now makes more sense to associate the library with emerging support for e-learning and e-research, creating a set of capacities aligned around academic systems and services, and the management of research and learning data.”

Lorcan Dempsey blog posting, 15/06/08http://orweblog.oclc.org/archives/001656.html