1. Project co-ordinator (D Marsh) visit to Dave Harris, 26 June 2009, MARJON (University College Plymouth)

Dave: sample materials audit

Dave has developed a collection of RLOs over the past few years, using Microsoft Producer – for OER he is already thinking about converting some of these into a more accessible format with Xerte (http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/xerte/ ) or similar tool. Producer is a Microsoft only plug-in, so there are numerous issues already present about making these material truly open. Sometimes the active controls in Producer don’t always work very well. Creating learning objects is very much like using Windows Movie Maker, import content, use timeline etc. Dave tends to record a single audio file over the slides.

Examples Dave has created on:

http://www.arasite.org/mmedia/menurlow.html

Producer does have some useful features for delivering pedagogy – xerte may impose a more linear structure on the user, so come consideration will be needed for re-working.

Dilemmas with creating educational video – often expensive, not always effective – Dave prefer to work on more ‘affective’ areas of student motivation.

Dave teaches in the School of Sport and Leisure, principally sociology of sport and leisure. Also teach in political and community studies, with an educational focus.

Noted that they use the Dissertation website a lot at MARJON.

Lot’s of teacher training students here, primary, secondary and CPD . Some overseas students, particularly Malaysia (IT courses).

Use Blackboard at MARJON, mostly lecture notes – Dave also links often into his own website for RLOs.

As far as know, no onerous control or ownership of teaching materials, should be able to negotiate – benefits of a small institution, but also the management don’t always understand the IPR etc …

Dave likes ‘low tech’ as a design principle, sceptical about ‘realism’ in educational materials, heavily constructed materials don’t always allow for much participation for the user. Tend to find that students don’t mind low tech, good feedback from students. More systematic feedback form students – would prefer podcast over video for portability (confirms early OU studies Dave is familiar with about preference for audio for video). Video also can be very alienating, conversely having to present to video can be more inhibiting that presenting to a lecture room – different dynamics.

Video more effective if shorter pieces, not just talking heads for an hour.

At MARJON there is tech support for developing videos in high quality, highly produced, but quite costly. The usual approach is to emulate capture lectures to video. Small teaching awards have also been introduced recently to offer incentives for developing practice – elearning one aspect, perhaps used with internal video production unit.

Also formal and informal support for e-learning – though many of the tech people are not educators, so sometimes takes some translation.

Find that low-tech approaches are also conducive to getting others interested in having a go at producing similar materials. Have done things for example like case studies of the experience of PhD process.

Some of Dave’s potential materials:

• Research Methods module (uses Blackboard with lecture notes and links into Dave’s resources). Mix of methods, also some quants.
• Approaching research (30 credits) – could also release module handbook or parts of the rubric.

Interestingly no essays in this module, on one hand helps avoid plagiarism, use instead multiple choice, critical review, and a written research proposal (based over 6 weekly activities / assignments). Weekly lecture presentations also (i.e. problems of stats etc).

Currently these are taught over a semester, planning to move to modules over 2 semester (‘long and thin’).

With Methods, finds it useful to have access to a wide range of online resources, find that most students will only really concentrate on understanding / applying 1 method (usually whichever chosen for their dissertation) – would be good to show resource and materials that encourage students to engage with multiple research methods. Some of this is inherent with teaching methods as part of modular courses rather then single honours.

Dave also working on a research methods database / collection of modules / links for his own website.