Fit for Purpose: placing the PLE at the centre of marketing education Lisa Harris and Paul Harrigan University of Southampton Presentation for 2 nd International PLE Conference, Southampton, July 2011

Author Information Paul Lisa Lecturer in Marketing Programme Director for the BSc in International Marketing Research on impact of technology on marketing curriculum Current research project investigating use of Web 2.0 (e.g. social networks, blogs, web analytics) technologies on customer relationships in marketing Teaches Digital Marketing at the University of Southampton Programme Director for the MSc in Digital Marketing. Qualified e-tutor for the University of Liverpool online MBA. Currently developing workshops encouraging the growth of digital presence for career or business development.

Background At Southampton our research focuses on: – how developments in technology are driving new marketing theory and practice – how marketing education should respond to these changes This paper evaluates how marketing education should develop both appropriate curriculum content and the supportive personal learning environments (PLEs) made possible by developments in technology Slides and full paper can be accessed via my blogmy blog

21st Century Careers (JISC, 2009) Competition for employment in a global knowledge economy Increased levels of self-employment and portfolio working Growth of multi-disciplinary teams focused on specific tasks whose members might be physically located anywhere in the world Life within a networked society Blurring of boundaries between ‘real’ and ‘virtual’, public and private Increasingly ubiquitous use of digital technologies.

The big picture the digital sector directly employs 2.5 million people in the UK the vast majority of graduate jobs require effective use of ICT as an integral aspect of professionalism and performance. The UK Government has indicated that student satisfaction will be taken as a critical measure of how higher education is performing. learners have high expectations and their experiences of technology-supported learning are largely determined by the level of staff e-learning skills.

Digital Literacy “Digital literacy is the ability to locate, organise, understand, evaluate, and analyse information using digital technology. It involves a working knowledge of current tools and an understanding of how they can be used” “The active management of online activities such as collaboration, networking, reviewing, content creation and curation in order to “stand out from the crowd” in today’s job market” “an ability to respond positively to change”

“Life-wide” and “life-long” learning Contacts Experts Teachers ClassmatesFriends Family Coworkers Synchronous Communication Mobile Texting Video Conferencing Microbloging Instant Messaging RSS Wikis Blogs Subscriptions readers Podcasts Social Bookmarking Social Networks Information Management Library/ Texts Open CourseWare Evaluating Resources Scholarly Works Locating Experts Wendy Drexler (2008)

The PLE Spectrum PLEs can be conceptualised in terms of: 1) the technology choices available to individuals to help them manage their learning 2) the features of the study programme which help to formalise this approach 3) the technological infrastructure provided by the university as a whole (ie providing adequate wifi, secure web access etc) 4) the culture changes that are required for staff to operate effectively within this environment

Potential scope of the PLE TopicCurrent popular toolsComments Accessing and cataloguing information Google, Google Scholar, Delicious, Netvibes Demonstrate how to source, rate and store relevant information Collaboration and networking LinkedIn, Facebook, TwitterHow to build a network, online and offline Commentary (ratings and reviews, feedback) ForumsThe work of others that they will evaluate and which showcases your knowledge Content creationYouTube, Flickr, Slideshare, Wordpress Demonstrate creativity, writing and presentation skills Managing online identities LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube Combine all of the above to develop digital presence/personal brand

Southampton PLE Initiatives Undergraduate Digital Marketing module – development of online communities by student groups using blogs, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook (from 2008, assessed by oral presentation) Digital Presence Workshops for staff and students from 2009 Student blogs to support personal tutor/tutee relationship from 2009 Integration of PLE into Introduction to Marketing and Digital Marketing Communications modules from Sept 2010 – Blog, Delicious, Netvibes

The PLE for marketing students Assessed blog posts: reflections on the learning process, reinforced with face to face meetings Continual assessment and feedback throughout module (online and offline) Students encouraged to find relevant online materials and report back to the group Live tweeting in class, with remote participants Encouragement to use online bookmarking and sharing tools

Challenges *Very* variable levels of digital skills amongst students Variable levels of staff ‘buy in’ Entrenched expectations of a ‘traditional’ learning experience. They were not used to: – reading or critiquing each others’ work – making their work publically available online – ‘thinking across’ modules – building up assignment work from the start of a module rather than at last minute.com

PLE Success stories Some students volunteered to present their work to the whole group For examples of students who have really embraced the approach, see Natasha’s blog and Maria’s blog.Natasha’s blogMaria’s blog Student experiences through the whole programme: student course summarystudent course summary

Thank you for participating! Any questions, comments, suggestions???