Harvey Mellar Taiwan_presentation_2012_07_31

Quality assurance and quality enhancement of eLearning in the UK,

and the development of the epprobate initiative

Harvey Mellar

Borderless Quality‧Infinite InnovationInternational Conference on e-Learning Quality and Innovative Instruction

Taiwan, 31 July 2012

www.ioe.ac.uk/staff/LKLB_34.html

http://www.ioe.ac.uk/staff/LKLB_34.html

epprobate

www.epprobate.com 2

www.epprobate.com

http://epprobate.com/

Institute of Education, University of London

www.ioe.ac.uk

3www.epprobate.com

http://www.ioe.ac.uk/

London Knowledge Lab

www.epprobate.com 4

www.lkl.ac.uk

http://www.lkl.ac.uk/

University of London International Programmes

www.epprobate.com 5

www.londoninternational.ac.uk

http://www.londoninternational.ac.uk/

Outline

Quality and eLearning

The changing landscape of knowledge and learning

Quality assurance in the UK

Quality assurance of eLearning

epprobate

www.epprobate.com 6

QUALITY AND ELEARNING

www.epprobate.com 7

What is quality?

Exception: Quality as something exceptional, and distinctivePerfection: Quality as a consistent or flawless

outcomeFitness for purpose: Quality as fulfilling a

customer's requirements, needs or desiresValue for money: Quality as return on investmentTransformation - the enhancement and

empowerment of students or the development of new knowledge

www.epprobate.com 8

Harvey, L. (1995). Editorial (The Key Issues: the quality agenda) Quality in Higher Education

CONCERNS ABOUT THE QUALITY OF ELEARNING

www.epprobate.com 9

Corporate training

www.epprobate.com 10

www.astd.org/Publications/Newsletters/ASTD-Links/ASTD-Links-Articles/2011/01/E-Learning-Trends-2011

American Society for Training & Development (ASTD)

What concerns does your organization have about e-learning?

“Quality of programs – 31.3%”

http://www.astd.org/Publications/Newsletters/ASTD-Links/ASTD-Links-Articles/2011/01/E-Learning-Trends-2011













Higher Education


http://www.insidehighered.com/news/survey/conflicted-faculty-and-online-education-2012

66% of faculty say online courses are inferior or somewhat inferior to face-to-face courses

Conflicted: Faculty and Online Education, 2012 A Joint Project of The Babson Survey Research Group and Inside Higher Ed I. Elaine Allen, Jeff Seaman, with Doug Lederman Scott Jaschik












Schools


www.carnegielearning.com

http://www.carnegielearning.com/


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/09/technology/a-classroom-software-boom-but-mixed-results-despite-the-hype.html?pagewanted=all




















THE CHANGING LANDSCAPE OF KNOWLEDGE AND LEARNING


New demands and new suppliers

Demands– Many more students involved in higher education– Demands for equitable access and retention– Increasing need to address issues of student demand and

choice– Constraints on public spending result in higher fees

Suppliers– Shift towards a more deregulated market – Courses offered by international providers – Increase in for-profit institutions in education – Disaggregation of services– Collaborations and partnerships


New skills


www.p21.org/index.ph

http://www.p21.org/index.ph

Using multimodal representations


http://www.mat.ucsb.edu/res_proj3.php

http://www.mat.ucsb.edu/res_proj3.php

Developing techno-mathematical literacies


Hoyles, Celia (2007) Understanding the System: Techno-Mathematical Literacies in the Workplace

Learning in the Network Society


Castells, M. (2001) The Internet galaxy: reflections on the Internet, business, and society

Harnessing the Data Deluge


http://www.economist.com/node/15579717?Story_ID=15579717

http://www.economist.com/node/15579717?Story_ID=15579717

LEARNING IN NEW WAYS


New (ish) technologies


Serious games and

immersive worlds

M-learning

Haptic

technologies

Tangibles

Opening accessOERs, MOOCs and MOTS


OER

Open Educational Resources

Massive Online Open Courses

Mass Online Tutoring Systems

Learning is a process of connecting specialized nodes or information sources

Learning may reside in non-human appliances Capacity to know is more critical than what is currently

known Nurturing and maintaining connections is needed to

facilitate continual learning Ability to see connections (built networks) between

fields, ideas, and concepts Currency (accurate, up-to-date knowledge) is the intent

of all connectivist learning activities

Learning as connecting


Siemens, G. (2005) Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age

Teaching as a design science

“Teaching is not rocket science. It is, in fact, far more complex and demanding work than rocket science.” - Richard Elmore


“Teaching is changing. It is no longer simply about passing on

knowledge to the next generation. Teachers in the 21st century, in

all educational sectors, have to cope with an ever-changing cultural

and technological environment. Teaching is now a design science.

Like other design professionals - architects, engineers, town

planners, programmers – teachers have to work out creative and

evidence-based ways of improving what they do.”

- Diana Laurillard“Every day, teachers design and test new ways of

teaching, using learning technology to help their learners.

But their discoveries remain local. By representing and

communicating their best ideas as structured

pedagogical patterns, teachers could develop this vital

professional knowledge collectively”

- Diana Laurillard

Pedagogical design patterns

• Context– Where, when, who (all the things you can’t change)

• Problem– We want to do A under condition B but are constrained by

C

• Solution


C o n t e x t

Problem Solution

When, Where,

Who

What are we trying to

achieve / solve?

Cookbook: ingredients,

procedure, expected

outcomes

QUALITY ASSURANCE IN THE UK


QA in UK Higher Education

Universities and colleges manage the quality and standards of their awards by means of their own internal quality assurance procedures Course validation Annual monitoring Periodic course review External examiners Peer observation Student feedback

– Course evaluation surveys– Focus groups– Student representation


http://www.qaa.ac.uk

http://www.qaa.ac.uk/

Quality Assurance Agency (QAA)

Quality Code– Standards, quality and public

information

Institutional review– Review team of five, including a

student– Institutions submit a self-evaluation

document and a student written submission

– Preliminary visit - one and a half days + Review visit - three to five days

– Institutional reports publicly available on the QAA website

Outcomes Reports


Involvement of learners in quality assurance


From quality assurance to quality enhancement

QUALITY ASSURANCE

Inhibits frank reporting

Promotes incremental improvement of academic practice

Discourages risk taking

Retrospective approaches to quality management

QUALITY ENHANCEMENT

Encourages and requires frank reporting

Facilitates transformational change

Supports and manages risk taking

Prospective approaches to quality management


Raban, C. (2007) „Assurance Versus Enhancement: Less Is More?‟ Journal of Further and Higher Education

QUALITY ASSURANCE OF ELEARNING


Quality Code - Section 2


Benchmarking

A group of universities set up in a benchmarking club

Each completes an Institutional Review Document

They jointly develop a set of criteria called good practice statements

Each institution then scores its performance against the good practice statements


A research study on quality assurance of eLearning


Case studies of Postgraduate courses

For each case study – Collect and review all quality assurance

documentation

– Interview stakeholders

Comparative examination of data– Map of issues not captured by the quality assurance

procedures

– Identification of aspects of the courses which impact on the implementation of the QA procedures

Results: Factors affecting the application of QA procedures


DISAGGREGATED

PROCESSES

DISTRIBUTED

TEAMS

DISTANT LOCATION

OF STUDENTS

OPENNESS OF

COURSES TO REVIEW

ORGANISATIONAL

CONTEXT

Workshop on QA/QE procedures and eLearning

Based on existing research

Delivered in 15 UK universities, then in Germany, Sweden, Saudi Arabia

Examined issues, challenges and possible solutions

Dilemma, should we – modify existing quality procedures, or

– create new quality procedures specifically for eLearning?


QA/QE in eLearning Special Interest Group


www.qe-sig.net

http://www.qe-sig.net/



Toolkit


http://qaqe-sig.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Toolkit_version_2011_8_11-Final-edit-DoH.pdf












UK Quality Code for Higher Education - Learning and Teaching

Example indicatorsAn understanding of the learning process informs

learning and teaching practices, which use evidence-informed approaches derived from the outcomes of research, scholarship and the evaluation of professional practices.Higher education providers assure themselves

that for every student both the physical and virtual environments they provide are safe, accessible, reliable and usable and that their use is characterised by dignity, courtesy and respect.


http://www.qaa.ac.uk/Newsroom/Consultations/Pages/learning-teaching.aspx




Summary: Issues for assessing quality of eLearning

Development of a quality cultureUse of research, scholarship and the evaluation of

professional practices to inform learning and teaching practicesEnsuring the currency and accuracy of content Involvement of learners Involvement of other stakeholders Use of learning analytics Internationalisation


EPPROBATEThe international quality label for eLearning courseware


Objectives

Increase trust in eLearning

Deliver a quality label focusing on courseware

Facilitate a consensus building process about eLearning quality

Establish an international network of reviewers and partners


The review process

Self assessment document– Asks for evidence

• Evaluations

• Learning analytics

Review panel– Pedagogic expert

– Content expert

– Learner

– Courseware producer

Panel reviews courseware in terms of the quality grid

Feedback to producer


THE QUALITY GRID


http://epprobate.com/index.php/en/epprobate-quality-grid

A. COURSE DESIGN

1. Provision of course information, learning objectives and instructional guidance

2. Constructive alignment


B. LEARNING DESIGN


3. Learner needs

4. Personalisation

5. Instructional strategies

C. MEDIA DESIGN


6. Media integration

7. Interface

8. Interoperability and technological standards

D. CONTENT


9. Accuracy and values of content

10. Intellectual property rights

11. Legal compliance

epprobate - meeting the challenges

Development of a quality cultureUse of research, scholarship and the evaluation of

professional practices to inform learning and teaching practicesEnsuring the currency and accuracy of content Involvement of learners Involvement of other stakeholders Use of learning analytics Internationalisation


References


Google short URL: goo.gl/H5lp4

http://www.mendeley.com/groups/2338531/quality-assurance-and-quality-enhancement-of-elearning-in-the-uk/

http://goo.gl/H5lp4

http://goo.gl/H5lp4


















