Sue Roberts Dean of Learning Services

and Director of SOLSTICE, Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching

Edge Hill University (UK)and

Margaret WeaverHead of Learning and Information Services

and Change Academy St Martin’s College of HE (UK)

Changing Faces:Changing Places

Perspectives on leadership and the new ‘academic team’

Introduction and OverviewIntroduction and Overview

The UK Higher Education Context

Spaces and Places: challenges in blended learning

Case studies: St Martin’s College and Edge Hill University: Approaches to the development of the new academic team

Conditions for Learning: transferable principles

Background…

Strategic Drivers

‘Convergence’ HE policy – what is a university?

‘Widening participation’

Mission and Purpose

Student (and others) expectations and

needs/wants

Learning and Teaching innovation

Blended and flexible

learning

Learning Environments/

Learner Support and Development

Technological possibilities

Why is the new “academic team” emerging in UK HEIs ?

Challenges for libraries in ‘eLearning’

“New collaborations and partnerships between staff with different professional backgrounds are emerging…within the new ‘space’ for educational activity that has resulted from the convergence and rapid development of ICT.”

(Levy and Roberts, 2005)

Challenges in ‘Blended Learning’

Library as place/space…

“The death-of-place prognostications simply do not square with the countless people I have interviewed, the focus groups I’ve observed, and the statisticalresearch I’ve done. Place and community are more critical factors than everbefore…the economy itself increasingly takes form around real concentrationsof people in real places.”

Richard Florida (2000) The Rise of the Creative Class and how it’s transformingwork, leisure, community and everyday life.

Importance of Spaces/Places

Challenges for libraries in ‘eLearning’ Case Studies

Introduction and OverviewThe Learning Gateway: St Martin’s College

the Learning Gateway is not just a building – but a metaphor for change and a driver of institutional academic and cultural development

This outcome has not been brought about by accident, but by the purposeful juxtaposition of strategy, vision and leadership exhibited by staff

The LG is not a library but a space-to-learn-in conceived by placing learners at the centre

It is technology rich, affording new opportunities for social, informal and formal learning

Challenges for libraries in ‘eLearning’

Literature on Learner-centred environments

Pedagogical PrinciplesCollaborative Learning approachesSMART Learners

Flexible, adaptable, accessible spacesFormal, informal and social learning

Seamless integration of ICT

Changing roles – tutors, students, supporters

Emergent, complex and cultural change

Learning First

Challenges for libraries in ‘eLearning’

How can the space and facilities be a place where students can grow and develop?

How can the space be made adaptable so that students and staff can learn from each other?

Learning how to learn - how can the space can be used to support independent learning and new partnerships?

SMC approach:Development of the new academic teamThe Change Academy

Challenges in supporting ‘Blended Learning’

View of the atrium showing the infiltration of light

Introduction and OverviewPerspectives on Learning

Challenges for libraries in ‘eLearning’

“in matters of teaching and learning, we [librarians] are oftenJust out of peripheral vision and, in the case of onlinelearning, we are not even in the picture.” (Peacock, 2005)

“New collaborations and partnerships between staff with different professional backgrounds are emerging…within the new ‘space’ for educational activity that has resulted from the convergence and rapid development of ICT.” (Levy and Roberts, 2005)

The Change Academy

The Student Journey – a rich picture

What are the challenges of working in multi-professional teams?

Envision

Co-create

Contextualise

Trust

Intuition

Belief

Challenges for libraries in ‘eLearning’

“

FDL Framework – Leadership in Action

“To engage all staff involved in academic delivery in a supportive process that encourages them to further examine flexible and distributed learning, including e-learning options and to embed them in their academic courses.”

Stage 1Faculties identify courses- linked

to business expansion plans

Stage 2Planning – outcome, L&T approach,

expertise

Stage 3Partnership workshop; learning

contract

Stage 4Production of materials

Validation process

Developing Influence

Vision

Hybrid Skills and knowledge

Boundary crossing

“blending the changes we want to promote in student learning with the support we must give staff to achieve it”

Risk taking

Pedagogy and Facilitation

Academic Identity and Alignment:

Team building

www.edgehill.ac.uk/solstice

SOLSTICE: Edge Hill University

Between ‘new academic teams’ -academics, learning and technology

support roles, stakeholders etc.

Constructively aligned design (learning – teaching – assessment – evaluation)

Bespoke, tailored – alignment of purpose

with audience to determine form

Grounded in notions of active learning and social constructivist

pedagogies

Informed by, and generative of, research

and scholarship

Enhancement and dissemination

focusedCharacterised by teaching and learning approaches -

cognitive processing, interaction supported

by technology

SOLSTICE – an ‘intelligence

informed dialogue’

Key features of SOLSTICE

Our positionA “vision of a multi-professional team of academics, learning technologists and information specialists creating a learning environment and learning experiences with the learner at the centre”

“Intelligent deployment of technologies must be predicated upon multi-professional dialogue”

Current thinking

From hybrid individuals to hybrid teams

Salad not soup

New Academic Teams

Examples of the teams in action

Learning SpacesDeveloping Social Learning Spaces

Multi-professional teams – current experiences

What are your experiences of working in multi-professional teams on blended learning developments?

What worked well/ what issues arose?

What are the implications for leadership?

Conditions for working/learning together

Potential barriers

• Professional silos• Role perceptions• Professional territoriality• Group norms, culture etc.• Pace of change• Lack of self-confidence

• Lack of strategic direction• Time!• Individualism• Short-termism re: projects• Institutional culture

Partners in educational development

Could “eliminate competition and turf protection within our organisations.” (Stoffle, 1996)

Conditions for working/learning together

Potential enablers

• Focus on common purpose• Pedagogy at centre• Strategic direction/support• Leadership• Learning from each other• Pilot collaborations and evaluation

• Co-analysis, evaluation and research• Climate of trust• Reward and recognition• Blended learning as vehicle• The ‘right people’!

Conclusions: Implications for CPD

CPD

Learning technologies

Pedagogy

Team(s)

- leadership of teams- pedagogy central- Mix of strengths and approaches- ‘building bridges’

Individual

- role analysis- reflecting critically…- recognise where to get support

- exploring the ‘art of the possible’- knowing your limitations- collaboration

- designing for learning- ‘instructional design’- literacies for learning

Introduction and OverviewCommon Lessons Learnt for Leadership

Building Strong Central Services

Gaining and using external recognition

‘Letting go’ and taking risks

Breaking down silos

Networks of support

Nurturing potential

Introduction and OverviewFurther Resources

See Bibliography

Plus…

See St Martin’s Learning Gatewayhttp://www.ucsm.ac.uk/lis/learninggateway

See Edge Hill’s SOLSTICE http://www.edgehill.ac.uk/solstice

Introduction and OverviewYour Questions?