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claireraistrick posted an update in the group Enthusing staff to engage with TEL 10 years, 6 months ago
I think showcasing good TEL practice to colleagues across a department is worthwhile. I am currently reviewing an online module as a ‘critical friend’. The idea is that I will flag up what works well and what might need to be tackled differently. Potentially, this will: contribute to staff development (and CPD) of those involved (including me) and allow us to support each other even more effectively, will allow us to form the basis of a case for more appropriate resourcing and will lead to further development of guidance and support for learners to facilitate their engagement with the next version of this and other online modules. So, we are progressing slowly and steadily!
Welcome to the group Claire
I’m glad you have found a way to evolve practice. Online modules demand a lot of development effort and of necessity people like us often have to get involved. However the online provision for campus based modules is often less of a priority.
I couldn’t agree more that showcasing is useful – however getting staff to look at what’s on offer is challenging too. I was reminded of this yesterday at a school (dept) learning & teaching committee which includes some of the keener TEL users, one of whom said “Wouldn’t it be great if we had a way of showcasing examples of Moodle/TEL to other members of staff with contact details et al for follow up?” Cue me to respond that I had actually done this already – very few of the group were aware.
I advertised it by email and at an away day. I know that a lot of staff don’t read emails even if you have a catchy subject line and are known as someone who doesn’t overuse it but I thought a few might at least have picked up on it. Away days obviously don’t work either 🙂 I am a heavy social media user but few of them are (or they are in different networks to me) so I am limited in those types of opportunity.
Striking while the iron is hot, I am going to send the resource link now (by email) to the committee members and ask them to disseminate to their subject areas. This will hopefully get the word out to a few more. Apart from anything else, I want to build the resource collaboratively and need suggestions for more examples. I will also publicise an institution wide resource that is doing something similar but on a wider scale.
As well as communications, I think we need to cultivate the local enthusiasts more and probably formalise the role of such people so the job of promoting TEL is a shared one. This is a challenge, however, as the sort of staff who would fit the bill are often already over committed.
I like the idea of a supportive review of an online module. This could be the basis of a case study / showcase. It’d be great if there were more time for peer review and sharing, even within course teams, never mind faculties or cross-faculty. I’d also like us to build up and share more examples of simple things which can make a difference both to staff and students. However, I’m mindful of what Julie said earlier about some academics being interested solely in examples from their discipline.