1. Centre for Excellence in Reusable Learning Objects Dissemination and sustainability through rewarding communities of excellence www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk Dissemination and sustainability through rewarding communities of excellence Dawn Leeder, RLO-CETL University of Cambridge Annual CETL Network Conference 17-18 April 2008 University of Leicester

2. Centre for Excellence in Reusable Learning Objects Dissemination and sustainability through rewarding communities of excellence www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk Overview At RLO-CETL we run the Wolfson Reward Programme, an intensive residential programme based at Wolfson College, Cambridge where we bring students, academics and developers together in multidisciplinary teams. From last December we have offered the programme to a national audience. From 2009 we are launching an ambitious new programme to attract international visiting Fellows. The Wolfson e-Learning Fellowship programme is aimed at senior academics, technical and support staff in Higher Education throughout the world who have a passion for e-learning and the will to implement local change through creation, sharing and evaluation of radical new designs, tools, templates and methodologies. Both these programmes are funded by the participants' institutions - this is evidence of the institutions' commitment to both the participant and the programme itself. The overall aim is to seed and sustain a global community of e-learning excellence. This session will provide opportunities to find out about the work of RLO-CETL and the Fellowship schemes and to brainstorm the features of reusability and reward and models for dissemination and sustainability.

3. Centre for Excellence in Reusable Learning Objects Dissemination and sustainability through rewarding communities of excellence www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk Format for session RLO-CETL - what it is, what we do RLOs - what they are, some definitions Activity - features of reusability GLOs, MLOs - rationale, examples Staff Reward and Recognition - background, aims Activity - elements of a reward programme Globalisation - a new international programme Conclusions - invitations, comments, discussion

4. Centre for Excellence in Reusable Learning Objects Dissemination and sustainability through rewarding communities of excellence www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk

5. Centre for Excellence in Reusable Learning Objects Dissemination and sustainability through rewarding communities of excellence www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk London Metropolitan Nottingham Cambridge Who we are Tom Boyle John Cook Dawn Leeder Rob Alton Heather Wharrad Richard Windle

6. Centre for Excellence in Reusable Learning Objects Dissemination and sustainability through rewarding communities of excellence www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk Developing a Framework Evaluation Toolkit Sustainability RLOs, GLOs, MLOs Community Building Partnerships tools community Learning Design Workshops REWARD! What we do

7. Centre for Excellence in Reusable Learning Objects Dissemination and sustainability through rewarding communities of excellence www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk ‘stop’ ‘start’ ‘watch’ ‘listen’ ‘browse’ ‘investigate’ ‘explore’ ‘choose’ ‘do’ PASSIVE ACTIVE TEACHER-CENTRED STUDENT-CENTERED All about RLOs…

8. Centre for Excellence in Reusable Learning Objects Dissemination and sustainability through rewarding communities of excellence www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk NIH (not invented here) Courses are: Large Fixed All or nothing Resources are: Small Mix and match Reusable COURSES RESOURCES INSTITUTION SPECIFICINSTITUTION NEUTRAL SUBJECT SPECIFICSUBJECT GENERAL

9. Centre for Excellence in Reusable Learning Objects Dissemination and sustainability through rewarding communities of excellence www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk So need to create reusable learning objects (RLOs)…...but what are they? "When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in a rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean -- neither more nor less. "The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean different things." "The question is," said Humpty Dumpty, "which is to be master -- that's all."

10. Centre for Excellence in Reusable Learning Objects Dissemination and sustainability through rewarding communities of excellence www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk What is a RLO? media assets (aka information objects)

11. Centre for Excellence in Reusable Learning Objects Dissemination and sustainability through rewarding communities of excellence www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk What is a RLO? media assets (aka information objects) based on a single learning objective + activity + assessment + pedagogy

12. Centre for Excellence in Reusable Learning Objects Dissemination and sustainability through rewarding communities of excellence www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk Some definitions Definition #1 “Any digital resource that can be reused to facilitate learning” (Wiley, 2001) Definition #2 "A discrete reusable collection of content used to present and support a single learning objective." (Jacobsen, 2002) Definition #3 ”An aggregation of digital assets that represents an educationally meaningful stand-alone unit” (Dalziel, 2003)

13. Centre for Excellence in Reusable Learning Objects Dissemination and sustainability through rewarding communities of excellence www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk More definitions “a self-contained ‘chunk’ of interactive web-based learning, comprising a variety of media ingredients that are combined to support a single learning objective” (UCeL, 2003) “… small, self contained episodes of learning approximately 15-20 minutes in duration. A Learning Object will focus on a maximum of 2 learning objectives... will be highly interactive, engaging and … employ a range of media… This may include the use of audio, video, simulation and animation” (Becta, 2004) “a collection of documents, illustrations, audio or video clips, and other such items (sometimes termed individual ‘learning assets’) organized in a particular way to achieve a desired learning outcome” (MIT, 2004)

14. Centre for Excellence in Reusable Learning Objects Dissemination and sustainability through rewarding communities of excellence www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk RLO-CETL’s definition “a web-based interactive chunk of e-learning designed to explain a stand-alone learning objective” (RLO-CETL, 2005) … ensures learning object is small and self-contained - but DOES NOT ensure reusability … and already is out of date…

15. Centre for Excellence in Reusable Learning Objects Dissemination and sustainability through rewarding communities of excellence www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk Activity - Features of reusability What features make RLOs reusable? What are the desirable qualities of RLOs?

16. Centre for Excellence in Reusable Learning Objects Dissemination and sustainability through rewarding communities of excellence www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk Features of reusability What features make RLOs reusable? What are the desirable qualities of RLOs? small, self-contained generalisable across courses, institutions engaging, interactive platform independent, easily accessible standards compliant searchable, findable, retrievable freely available ‘difficult’ subject areas customisable, adaptable, flexible made collaboratively - common ownership based on real need - inclusion/relevance

17. Centre for Excellence in Reusable Learning Objects Dissemination and sustainability through rewarding communities of excellence www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk Generative Learning Objects The next generation… based on a pedagogical pattern separate instance from core adaptable by local tutors (and students) productivity increased relevance enhanced #3 Core Pedagogical Pattern #2 #4 #5 #6 #1 Subject specific instances

18. Centre for Excellence in Reusable Learning Objects Dissemination and sustainability through rewarding communities of excellence www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk eMI

19. Centre for Excellence in Reusable Learning Objects Dissemination and sustainability through rewarding communities of excellence www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk Mobile Learning Objects Learners expect content delivered in this way Very useful for “dead” time - on the bus, tube, train (needs short chunks) (can also be GLOs) > 90% UK HE students have a mobile phone

20. Centre for Excellence in Reusable Learning Objects Dissemination and sustainability through rewarding communities of excellence www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk Back to the Reward Programme…

21. Centre for Excellence in Reusable Learning Objects Dissemination and sustainability through rewarding communities of excellence www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk Who attends? n=86

22. Centre for Excellence in Reusable Learning Objects Dissemination and sustainability through rewarding communities of excellence www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk What subjects? Study skills Maths Stats Health sciences Nursing Languages Music Biological sciences Sports sciences Engineering Social sciences Classics Genetics Ethics Computing Archaeology History

23. Centre for Excellence in Reusable Learning Objects Dissemination and sustainability through rewarding communities of excellence www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk Overall Aim of Programme “The overall aim of the Reward and Development Programme is to provide a satisfying and stimulating calendar of activities and events that will harness the expertise and knowledge of excellent teachers. This expertise will be engaged to develop high quality learning objects that can be shared and reused by the partners, and ultimately throughout Higher Education. The programme will also provide an opportunity for the accreditation of continuing and professional development.” (RLO-CETL bid, Jan 2005)

24. Centre for Excellence in Reusable Learning Objects Dissemination and sustainability through rewarding communities of excellence www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk How to reward excellence? Elements of a Reward Programme:

25. Centre for Excellence in Reusable Learning Objects Dissemination and sustainability through rewarding communities of excellence www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk Reward Programme Stages Initial local meetings (April/May) 3 day Summer Residence Cambridge (July) 2 day developers’ meeting Cambridge (October) 3 day Winter Residence Cambridge (December)

26. Centre for Excellence in Reusable Learning Objects Dissemination and sustainability through rewarding communities of excellence www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk Range of templates

27. Centre for Excellence in Reusable Learning Objects Dissemination and sustainability through rewarding communities of excellence www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk Facilitate collaboration

28. Centre for Excellence in Reusable Learning Objects Dissemination and sustainability through rewarding communities of excellence www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk Example Activity: Unlocking content  Practitioner-based workshop approach  Multi-disciplinary teams  Poster templates  Pro-active facilitation The birth of a GLO tool…

29. Centre for Excellence in Reusable Learning Objects Dissemination and sustainability through rewarding communities of excellence www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk Development stages

30. Centre for Excellence in Reusable Learning Objects Dissemination and sustainability through rewarding communities of excellence www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk Example Activity: Master Class  Expert session, professional development  Focussed group (developers, academics)  Show and tell/walkthrough  Question and answers

31. Centre for Excellence in Reusable Learning Objects Dissemination and sustainability through rewarding communities of excellence www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk Outputs and rewards

32. Centre for Excellence in Reusable Learning Objects Dissemination and sustainability through rewarding communities of excellence www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk Wolfson e-Learning Fellowship (WeLF) programme From April 2009… a ten-week visiting Fellowship at Wolfson College, Cambridge to conduct a significant body of work facilitated by CETL staff ~ 10 visiting Fellows per term competitive selection process http://www.welf.org.uk

33. Centre for Excellence in Reusable Learning Objects Dissemination and sustainability through rewarding communities of excellence www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk Wolfson e-Learning Fellowship (WeLF) programme Aimed at … senior academics and academic-related staff from HE worldwide capable of significant change agency, evangelism committed to global community of excellence Themes: Advanced Learning Design, Blended Learning & Evaluation Supporting & Sustaining Communities of Excellence Open Content, Generative Tools and Reusability and other innovative proposals

34. Centre for Excellence in Reusable Learning Objects Dissemination and sustainability through rewarding communities of excellence www.rlo-cetl.ac.uk Invitations to join us Wolfson Reward Programme 2008 Monday 7 - Wednesday 9 July Monday 8 - Wednesday 10 December Cost: £488 CETL Developers’ Meeting 2008 Monday 20 - Tuesday 21 October Cost: TBC Wolfson e-Learning Fellowships (WeLF) April - June 2009 September - December 2009 January - March 2010 Cost: ~ £9,600Contact: Dawn Leeder DCL25@cam.ac.uk