Adventures in Learning and Teaching

Last week I attended the University of East Anglia Learning and Teaching day. As I no longer work for UEA it was both strange and wonderful to be with my former colleagues talking about subjects I'm so passionate about, and interesting to see from an outside perspective the work UEA is currently doing in this area. Rather neat then that the theme of the day was 'Outside in: how external factors influence our teaching'.

In fact, the main external factor driving the discussion of the day seemed to be 'students as customers' - a debate that's been preoccupying Higher Education for a long time now, but resurfacing now in the light of the Teaching Excellence Framework and generating an explicit link between 'teaching excellence' and charging students more money. Professor Andy Wood's keynote was arguably provocative, outlining how the university could (and probably is) seen as a business by government, and where in that arena we are falling short. For example, if research is our 'product', then it is too slow to the market for adequate return on investment. How can we improve this?

I find this way of looking at HE uncomfortable to say the least, and in an environment where we change our focus to be driven by consumer demand, I worry that the value in great learning and teaching becomes lost. Great teaching does provoke students to have ideas and provide the messy, mistake-led learning space in which students can explore them. But it doesn't then have to turn those ideas into money making enterprises. Not everything of worth is a product to be sold. 

Much of my day riffed on this theme: discussions of embedding employ ability into the curriculum; linking student assessment to industry; being explicit about the skills students learn which will lead them into employment; evidencing 'learning gain' while student are studying. However there were also some fabulous ideas explored with regard to working in partnership with students to shape their learning experience, using triggers such as photographs to explore student-led ideas and fostering independent learning through MOOCs and supported online learning. 

I can't tell you the future of HE or how the role of teaching and learning is going to be forced to change to fit restrictive and metrics-driven funding structures, but at least I can tell you that there are some very talented, enthusiastic and dedicated educators out there providing a fantastic experience for students. 

Resources from the day will appear here: https://portal.uea.ac.uk/csed/learning-and-teaching1/learning-and-teaching-days/learning-and-teaching-day-2017 and I've saved my highlights from the day on Twitter below:

Integrating 'things'...

It's funny really...one of the reasons I like doing this blog is that I can reflect a lot on the tools I've already used in my work, but I'll be honest it's rare I have the time or inclination to actually try something new! I expect this is a common theme amongst librarians, the chime of "if only I had time I could do this". So what can I actually take from this blog and convert from an "If only..." into "I've done..."?

This blog has caused me to revisit my Google Drive and the usefulness of Google docs. In a recent teaching session, rather than handing out 80 handouts I decided to try and save trees by uploading the handout to Google docs and giving the link to students instead. I think this worked - at least all of the students were able to easily access the handout and bring it up on their screens. It's something I think I would choose to do again and it also means the handout is then accessible on the web at any time should the students want to come back to it.

I've kept my LinkedIn! Having been pretty disparaging about the interface and begrudgingly creating an account, I've both finished creating my profile and updated it. I can't ignore the fact it's a well used professional resource, and that it helps raise my profile as an information professional and create links with others who I could potentially work or collaborate with in the future. I considered deleting my profile, but realised that fighting against the tide in this manner when I'm perfectly capable of maintaining my profile is probably a futile gesture. Who knows how useful it could be in the future?

My RSS reader on the other hand, while it's full of interesting stuff, hardly ever gets looked at! One of the reasons is that I prefer to browse for my information - so rather than getting information through news feeds or blogs I like going to The Guardian and having a look around. But as I've mentioned before, my primary source of information 'pushed' to me on the web comes from Twitter. I remain addicted - It's a fantastic resource. I do sometimes show my RSS reader to students though, to demonstrate ways in which they can gather information that is sent to them in an efficient way - I'll be honest most students don't look all that thrilled by it. Perhaps they see that no matter whether their news feeds are gathered in one place or not, they'll still make them the lowest priority in their researcher lives.

The last blog post I made was regarding screencasts, although the 'thing' also included considering podcasting, which I basically ignored However, I think creating podcasts could be a very effective way of creating learning resources quickly and easily that can then be disseminated through the web and student blackboard sites. This is something I would like to keep as an idea ticking over, and give it a go as soon as I have time. Hey, we all need an 'if only..." to aspire towards!

Screencasting & learning to love the sound of your own voice

Ah screencasting....if you're anything like me you find recording screencasts a fairly unpleasant experience, where you have to talk out loud to a computer, feeling faintly ridiculous  and the only way to check your work is to then listen to the sounds of your own voice repeating over and over again. Not really my idea of fun!

But they're a great tool. I've created screencasts to demonstrate how to navigate databases and renew loans, and even in place of being able to attend a teaching session. I've used the free online tool Screencast-o-matic, which once uploaded to a Youtube channel you can then add annotations and a transcript, creating a very accessible resource. Here's an example of mine:



While I think screencasts of this kind are really useful resources I do think they have to be carefully planned, and videos of any significant length are never going to be useful to students - anything over three minutes can become very tedious very quickly (as perhaps the above video demonstrates? I'd be interested to know how many of the video viewers actually watched the whole thing). Interestingly, the video I created to demonstrate to students how to use their Microsoft Live Skydrive has received over 3000 hits, 10 times as many as my library screencasts - which probably goes to show the way in which students expect to learn: they expect IT information to come from the internet and is useful in video format. But library information - can students learn it effectively from videos? Will they understand the process and be able to transfer that learning to another searching need or just follow step-by-step? Will they even search for help in the format of videos or will they get sidetracked one they're on Youtube watching much more entertaining videos?

At the moment, my new role as a Faculty Librarian takes me away from the subject librarian role somewhat in that I don't currently have time to create subject-specific resources of the kind I would like to provide for students, including screencasts of using particular databases for specific subjects. While I don't know what kind of impact these videos actually have, I do believe that providing learning tools like these in as many formats as possible is great for meeting the different needs of students, and they're always a fantastic thing to have up your sleeve for those moments where you just can't bear to explain how to do a search one more time!

Reflecting on reflecting

Adrift by Pascal B on Flickr 

As a chronic over-thinker with a natural inclination to scrutinize everything I do, you'd think I'd be looking forward to this 'thing', feeling that it's second nature to me.

Well no actually. I have many mental barriers that make me what to scribble over the words 'Reflective Practice' with a thick black pen. Firstly, thinking is tiring. No really, it is. And the idea that I need to do even more of it...no thanks. Secondly, why should I have to form my thoughts into a coherent pattern? I've been thinking for nearly 28 years so I feel well practiced - so why do I suddenly need a framework for thinking? Finally, there are so many elements to professional development now that require a portfolio, keeping a record, compiling evidence...and to extend this to even my thoughts and the intensely personal nature of it all seems like a level of commitment and depth I'm not sure I feel immediately comfortable with. 

But despite these objections, I also think I'm wrong on all three points! Here's why:

• The ability to reflect critically on experiences can be an extremely powerful tool for keeping an open mind, trying new experiences and responding positively to peer-observation. 
• A framework for thinking actually helps take the strain out of reflective practice - it provides a way of documenting your experiences in a manner that constantly moves you forward. 
• Emptying your head in a productive way is much healthier than letting thoughts swirl around with no outlet!
• Keeping a journal, or blog, or record of your reflection provides a basis for professional dialogue on interesting issues, and can also surprise you when your feelings or opinions change.

When I started in my post as a liaison librarian, I used a Pebblepad journal to keep tabs on my thoughts and feelings with regard to my teaching practice. I used to write down what I had done, what I felt went well and what could have been improved, and then try and incorporate some positive changes into my next teaching event. After a while I stopped because the process became quite automatic for me, and actually writing it down took time that I didn't have. Ironically, I'm now in a position where I'm trying to package up my teaching sessions into a coherent programme for embedding into a first year undergraduate program, and I'm wishing I'd kept a record of some of the reflections that led me to change and progress my sessions in the way that I did!

So I feel like I'm actually just starting out as a reflective practitioner, and have a lot of learning and practice to do, both in terms of theory and in terms of what works best for me. Recently I've found this presentation on The Teaching Librarian in Education by Claire McGuinness very inspiring. I hope that this blog will become a space where I can reflect on my work, interact with others and keep a record of my development...we shall see!