Supporting the adoption of TEL through TELFestFarzana Latif @farzanalatifTEL Manager, University of Sheffield

University of Sheffield

Research intensive institution

27,000 students

5 Faculties (1 international)

www.Sheffield.ac.uk

@farzanalatif

Outline

• Challenges related to the adoption of TEL

• Introduction to TELFest

• The value and Impact

• Share your strategies

• How to go about implementing your own TELFest

@farzanalatif

Factors that Impact Adoption

• Institutional/Departmental

-lack of institutional direction and support

• Individual

- perceived lack of time (most cited, unsurprising, takes three time longer) resistance to change, lack of rewards and recognition, lack of skills, self-efficacy (confidence)

• Pedagogy

-scepticism over the learning value

Adapted from Birch and Burnett (2009)

@farzanalatif

Strategies to Overcome

@farzanalatif

Workshops Exploratory Space

Resources

Platforms to Share

Good Practice

Adapted from: Walker et al

Share your Strategies

https://www.polleverywhere.com/free_text_polls/EXB4rMpk5n8szuE

@farzanalatif

7

TELFest

• Launched Sept 14, ran again Jan 15 and Sept 15, next June 16

• Sponsored by PVC Learning and Teaching

• Bring together TEL Activity

– Array of support previous not clear

• Offer Timely Training Develop Practice

• Surface Activity - Support Sharing of Practice Pedagogic Focused

• ‘Create a Presence - Promote TEL

• Flexible and Fun Space – Not

• Run by TEL Team in Collaboration

@farzanalatif

Inspiration

Workshops Exploratory Space

Resources

Platforms to Share

Good Practice

@farzanalatif

Something for everyone(‘right ’

balance)Beginners

Advanced

Pedagogical Focus and Practical

Flexible and

Timely

Support Sharing of

PracticeBringing together TEL ActivitiesSupporting, not replacing previous support

@farzanalatif

Incorporating Research

• Call for participation – over 40 collaborators

• Appealing to new and existing audiences

• Announcements

• Student Research

• Invite institutional leaders

• Connect with suppliers• E.g. Blackboard listening session

• Launch NEW activities• E.g. Blackboard Exemplary course programme

• Gain a better understanding of interest• ‘New Sessions’ most popular

“first chance to network with colleagues from outside my faculty since the L&T conference”

- Delegate Feedback

led by academics – call for participation

Delivering Good Practice

Provided us with experience

@farzanalatif

Gamifying - Making it Fun (Awards)Experience Different Delivery Methods

Introducing Concepts – Experience as a student

13

Making it Fun

attracts staff that has not engaged with us before

175Attended

September 2014

Increased

to 280in

September 2015

4Average

number of sessions attended

What kind of sessions would you run at these events?

https://www.polleverywhere.com/free_text_polls/KMqp2oPQ7YGHH0d

@farzanalatif

“Learning new skills and finding ideas for innovative approaches to teaching.“

- Delegate Feedback

“Variety of Content. “

- Delegate Feedback

“A good range of sessions covering some interesting and topical TEL topics! I came away with some good ideas.“

- Delegate Feedback

Measuring Impact

• Data Collection– Questionnaire (71 respondents)– Follow on Focus Groups (5 focus groups, 21

participants)

@farzanalatif

81%(n=47)

have made or plan to

make changes

Strongly Agree 5

4 3 2 Strongly Disagree 1

0

5

10

15

20

25Attending TELFest gave me ideas to put into practice

Blended Learning Approaches

• Allammary et al. (2012) reviewed different blended learning approaches and proposed three distinct design approaches:

– Low impact blend: adding extra activities to an existing course

– Medium impact blend: replacing activities in an existing

– High impact blend: building a course from scratch

the higher the impact, the larger the potential change will be to a course and to the student learning experience

@farzanalatif

Types of Changes Made

Low Adding a Twitter back channel to large classrooms, enhancing design of VLE

Medium Introducing mobile learning activities, incorporating more game based learning activities

High Redesign face to face teaching, moved to flipped learning model of delivery, redesign of assessment activities

@farzanalatif

80%Low

Impact

77%Medium Impact

32%High

Impact

other value• Networking

– Other colleagues– Professional staff

• Identifying like minded colleagues– Invited to departmental events

• Keeping up to date

• Confidence Building

• Raising awareness when the time is ‘right’

• Contributed to our online Hub

@farzanalatif

23

Ongoing Barriers/Challenges

• Raising the profile of TEL (Institutional Barrier)– “I never thought about attending TELFest before, I thought it was more for

IT Managers”

• Departmental Culture (Institutional Barrier)– “it feels like my colleagues are behind the curve, things are almost stuck to

where they were 30 years ago”. – “I think that we have a very supportive environment”

24

Ongoing Barriers/Challenges

• Individual Barriers– “time to sit and focus on making the course as good as it could be” – “How long before I need to change what I do again?” – TEL Retreat

• No Pedagogical Barriers– Nature of audience

25

Changes Ahead

• Catering to an audience with a widening digital divide– Increasing parallel and ‘bite-sized’ sessions

“… you have an impossible job of catering for people that don’t have a clue and others that are nuanced … you need a mix of sessions”.

• On-going Support

• More Student Involvement

• Timing

• Student Digital Literacy

“We are racing ahead with using the technology, but the students aren’t always able to use the technologies, so we need help and support for them”

26

Timing

When do you find the best time to run staff development events are?

http://Pollev.com/farzana

27

Sept 14

28

Jan 15

January

Febru

ary

March

AprilMay June

July

August

Septem

ber

October

Novemeb

er

Decem

eber

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

29

Sept 15

30

June/July 16

Developing own TELFest

1. Get a Senior Sponsor

2. Start with an agendaGet lots of input revise and reviseCreate flexibility (session type, audience)Integrate the use of TEL

3. Capture the EventTwitter, Filming, Picture, Blog

4. Advertise WidelyMore people will come next time

5. Create a sharing and informal atmosphereLearning should be fun!

@farzanalatif

Questions

• Would TELFest work for you?

• Do you do something similar?

@farzanalatif

Useful Resources

• Website http://www.shef.ac.uk/cics/telfest

• Blog http://learningtechnologiesteam.blogspot.co.uk/

• TEL Hub http://tel.group.shef.ac.uk/

• Your Ideas http://padlet.com/farzana_latif/eli

Contact Me:

Farzana.Latif@Sheffield.ac.uk

@farzanalatif

@farzanalatif