Theory and methodology of e-learning research Gráinne Conole PhD research day, 21/2/12 University of Leicester

Outline An overview of e-learning research Empirical evidence Examples of current research Theories underpinning the field Methodologies

E-learning research Learner experience Teacher practice Social & participatory media Learning design Learning spaces Mobile learning Virtual worlds

E-learning research Learning analytics Use of Virtual Learning Environments Open Educational Resources Pedagogical patterns Digital literacies Creativity and technologies Openness

Cross cutting themes Affordances of technologies Barriers and enablers Case studies of good practice Emergent technologies Changing practices Institutional implications

6 Metaphors Camp fire Watering hole Cave Mountain top Principle of learning space design Comfort Aesthetics Flow Equity Blending Affordances Repurposing Learning spaces

Play Performance Simulation Appropriation Multitasking Distributed cognition Collective intelligence Judgement Transmedia navigation Networking Negotiation Jenkins et al., 2006 Participatory culture shifts the focus of literacy from one of individual expression to community involvement. The new literacies almost all involve social skills developed through collaboration and networking Creativity New digital literacies

8 Technology immersed Learning approaches: task- orientated, experiential, just in time, cumulative, social Personalised digital learning environment Mix of institutional systems and Cloud-based tools and services Use of course materials with free resources Sharpe, Beetham and De Freitas, 2010 Learner experience

9 EDUCAUSE study Students drawn to new technologies but rely on more traditional ones Consider technologies offer major educational benefits Mixed views of VLEs

Technologies not extensively used (Molenda) Lack of uptake of OER (McAndrew et al.) Little use beyond early adopted (Rogers) Despite rhetoric and funding little evidence of transformation (Cuban, Ehlers) Pandora’s box What would it mean to adopt more open practices? Open design, open delivery, open research and open evaluation? Teacher practices: paradoxes

11 Pandora’s box Open designOpen delivery Open dialogueOpen research Open practices

Open design Shift from belief-based, implicit approaches to design-based, explicit approaches Encourages reflective, scholarly practices Promotes sharing and discussion Learning Design A design-based approach to creation and support of courses

13 Course views Course map Learning outcomes Pedagogy profile Task swimlane Course dimensions

14 I find the document quite thought- provoking, especially as a starting point in this journey for developing good understandings I could understand the learning design process and would feel able to use this when designing some learning activities It is iterative and so helps with ironing out any issues But does it work?

Open resources

Open courses: MOOC Massive Open Online Course

Open accreditation Peer to Peer University OER University

18 A space for sharing and discussing learning and teaching ideas and designs Application of the best of web 2.0 practice for teaching To bridge the gap between technologies and use Teachers say they want: examples, want to share & discuss Helps develop skills needed for engaging with new technologies’ Open dialogue: Cloudworks

Participation Sustained over time Commitment from core group Emerging roles & hierarchy Identity Group self-awareness Shared language & vocab Sense of community Cohesion Support & tolerance Turn taking & response Humour and playfulness Creative capability Igniting sense of purpose Multiple points of view expressed, contradicted or challenged Creation of knowledge links & patterns Galley et al., 2010 Community indicators

20 Open scholarship Weller: Open Digital Networked Discovery Integration Application Teaching Boyer

Open research

22 The future of learning Distributed Personalised Blurred Distributed Collective Creative Responsive Open Just in time

Empirical evidence Review of social and participatory media (Conole and Alevizou, 2010) Review of e-learning pedagogies (Conole, 2010) Review of TEL researchers (Conole, et al., 2011) Networked learning ‘hotseat’ on theory and methodology (Conole, 2010)

Theory Activity theory Actor Network Theory Community of Practice Social capital Cybernetics

Activity Theory

Methodology Case studies Evaluation Virtual ethnography Content analysis Action research Design-based research

My influences Laurillard Salomon Lave and Wenger Engestrom Wetsch Cole Daniels Schon Atkins Seely Brown Pea Perkins

Tips To do list, milestones, deadlines Share drafts and get comments! Present and get feedback at conferences Network, network, network! Publish as you go Up to date bibliography, use ref software! Nail your methodology

Final thoughts Open, participatory and social media enable new forms of communication and collaboration Communities in these spaces are complex and distributed Learners and teachers need to develop new digital literacy skills to harness their potential We need to rethink how we design, support and assess learning Open, participatory and social media can provide mechanisms for us to share and discuss teaching and research ideas in new ways We are seeing a blurring of boundaries: teachers/learners, teaching/research, real/virtual spaces, formal/informal modes of communication and publication