“Critical reflections on the future of learning technologies in HE”
Tuesday 29th October 2024 10-4.15pm
Contemporary higher education is witnessing the rapid development of online learning technologies both in national and international contexts. The introduction of Artificial Intelligence tools and adoption of interactive and immersive learning technologies, as well as the increased opportunities for online collaboration, are transforming the world of higher education but also presenting existential challenges to traditional pedagogic paradigms.
This symposium will explore these challenges and the opportunities offered by learning technologies for our pedagogic practice. Through our critical discussions in this international symposium we will explore different approaches to the use of technology and how we might ensure our pedagogies are relevant for a new generation of students. The symposium will focus on offering international perspectives from academics and students, as well as exploring innovative teaching and learning strategies.
Abstracts – See all abstracts here
| HERG/LTRG Symposium scheduleTuesday 29th October 2024 | |||
| Time | Type of session | Speaker | Topic |
| 10 am | Opening address | Prof. Donald MacRaild,Pro Vice-Chancellor & Senior Professor Research and Knowledge Exchange. | |
| 10,15 – 11,30 am | Keynote | Prof. Debbie Holley, NTF,Professor of Learning InnovationDepartment of Nursing SciencesFaculty of Health and Social Sciences, University of Bournemouth. | “Tomorrow’s Students: Charting Paths in Digital Transformation” |
| 11,30 – 11,50 am | Break | ||
| 11,50 – 12,10 pm | Session 1 | Assoc. Prof. Sophie Karanicholas, University of Adelaide. | “From Chalk to Click: Web technologies and the education revolution. A recount of over 30 years of learning and teaching experience in the Australian Higher and Vocational Education contexts”. |
| 12,10 – 12,30 pm | Session 2 | Assoc. Prof. Elena Moschini, Co-Director HERG, London Metropolitan University. | “A critical reflection on the role of human learning in the age of AI and machine learning; rethinking higher education values, strategies and desirable outcomes”. |
| 12,30 – 12,50 pm | Session 3 | Pratistha Poudel, Creative Learning Designer and Digital Content Producer. London Met alumna. | “A student journey: from student co-designer to e-learning professional” |
| 12,50 – 1,10 pm | Session 4 | Tracey Webb, Scott Hedger, Jakob RossnerUniversity of Bournemouth. | “A Taste of Innovation: serving up learning technologies a la Bake Off”. |
| 1,10 – 2 pm | Break | ||
| 2 – 2,20 pm | Session 5 | Prof. Jan Bamford, Co-Director HERG, NTF,London Metropolitan University. | “Inclusive approaches to learning spaces: co-design of digital resources in international contexts”. |
| 2,20 – 2,40 pm | Session 6 | Nakissa Campbel, Senior Lecturer at University of East London. | “Blended Learning is Political. An investigation of academic experiences of the implementation of blended learning change management programmes in UK post 1992 Universities”. |
| 2,40 – 3 pm | Session 7 | Dr Elaheh Homayounvala, Reader, Co-Director Intelligent Systems Research Group School of Computing and Digital Media, London Metropolitan University. | “Providing adaptive and personalised learning experiences for students in a Virtual Learning Environment”. |
| 3 – 3,20 pm | Session 8 | Richard Lingard, Head of Assistant Directing & Floor Managing, National Film and Television School. | “Collaboration in a digital age: learning to work with new technologies in the creative industries”. |
| 3,20 – 3,30 pm | Break | ||
| 3,30 – 4,00 | Plenary | ||
| 4.00-4,15 pm | Close | Prof. Donald MacRaild,Pro Vice-Chancellor & Senior Professor Research and Knowledge Exchange. | |
Abstracts
Keynote: “Tomorrow’s Students: Charting Paths in Digital Transformation”
Debbie Holley, NTF, Professor of Learning Innovation with Jakob Rossner
The future is human, and the future of learning is immersive. In the future, learning will take the shape of a story, a play, a game; involving multiple platforms and players; driven by dialogue and augmented with technology, an interplay of immersive experiences, data, and highly social virtual worlds” State of XR and Immersive Learning Outlook Report (2021 p 21)
Link to youtube: https://youtu.be/xon-MLqXiw8?si=67xMXRxhyyYfVxU3
Debbie Holley is the Professor of Learning Innovation at the University of Bournemouth, a world class educator and an advocate for designing hybrid learning experiences with students, as they move seamlessly in, through and out formal and informal learning spaces. Drawing on her recent work with the EU as they revisited the EU Digital Competence Framework for education, safety and security, she will outline some of the challenges and opportunities that the digital can offer our students as they graduate into a world of myriad options and opportunities. McKinsey & Co (2021) suggest a very different set of skills for our students as they enter the workplace. With Jakob Rossner, a learning technologist with extensive experience in design, use and expertise in the creation of digital artefacts, they will explore the possibilities of digital transformation for tomorrow’s students.
You can find out more about Debbie and her work by following her on twitter @debbieholley1, and Jakob @jakob_rossner
Selected References:
- EY and FCCI (Feb 2021): Higher Education in India: Vision 2040 https://www.ficci-hes.com/pdf/2021/eyreport.pdf
- McKinsey and Company. (2021). Defining the skills citizens will need in the future world of work Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-and-social-sector/our-insights/defining-the-skills-citizens-will-need-in-the-future-world-of-work
- State of XR and Immersive Learning: https://immersivelrn.org/pages/state-of-xr-immersive-learning
Session 1
“From Chalk to Click: Web technologies and the education revolution. A recount of over 30 years of learning and teaching experience in the Australian Higher and Vocational Education contexts”
Assoc. Prof. Sophie Karanicholas
It’s 1982, and I have just been allocated my first Human Anatomy and Physiology course to teach first year students. Equipped with the technologies of the time, a chalkboard, an overhead projector and a range of textbooks from the library, I began my learning and teaching journey. Using these simple technologies with great enthusiasm I wanted to instill a love of learning in my students and become an amazing teacher. In 2004, being an ‘amazing teacher’ didn’t seem to cut it anymore. The world and the learners within it were rapidly changing. Wikis and blogs started to make a large part of my approach to assessment and learning, and the students were loving them. Very soon these were superseded by Youtube, MOOCS, Interactive Learning Modules, Flipped Classrooms, Learning Management Systems and social media. This session will explore how educational theory was translated across decades of highly engaged learning and teaching to revolutionise teaching on a local and national level in Australian Universities and Vocational Education providers through scholarship, communities of practice, critical friendships and co-creating student partners.
Session 2
“A critical reflection on the role of human learning in the age of AI and machine learning; rethinking higher education values, strategies and desirable outcomes”
Assoc. Prof. Elena Moschini, London Metropolitan University
This presentation explores key issues about the role of human learning in future scenarios where Artificial Intelligence and other technologies will become mainstream and embedded in everyday life as well as in education. It will offer a brief reflection of the other historical turning points in the Higher Education experience in view of contextualising the potential impact of recent technological advancements on the education landscape of the future. It will consider the profound changes that systems powered by “machine learning’ will introduce in education.
The emphasis will be on considering the potential evolution of the higher education experience and the role of “human” learners and teachers in partnership with technological ones. The presentation will offer a critical reflection on the need for a comprehensive rethink of what will constitute the values, pathways, tools, experiences and desirable outcomes of human knowledge and human learning at this pivotal point of disruptive change, in consideration of the significant opportunity of re-shaping the overall philosophical understanding of the value of human learning.
Session 3
“A student journey: from student co-designer to e-learning professional”
Pratishtha Poudel
This presentation offers insights into the transformative role of participatory design in shaping effective educational content in higher education. Drawing from a personal journey that began as a student co-designer, it explores how integrating student skills and perspectives, alongside knowledge of user-centered design, gamification, and visual design, can significantly improve the learning experience. By conducting focus groups and engaging with students to iteratively enhance course design, this presentation reflects on how these early experiences evolved into creating a bespoke learning environment for a pioneering college, challenging conventional engineering education. This presentation emphasizes the importance of valuing student voices as users of the education system, adopting research-driven and iterative approaches to learning design similar to product development. It also highlights the strategic use of gamification to intrinsically motivate students for long-term engagement and success.
Session 4
“A Taste of Innovation: serving up learning technologies a la Bake Off”
Tracey Webb, Scott Hedger, Jakob Rossner
The Great British Bake Off TV show has spawned many international versions, from Australia to Uruguay. It combines a genteel British approach with a competitive edge and is addictive viewing. This session will have a focus on student impact and engagement from the use of learning technologies in education and showcase examples of how staff at Bournemouth University have leveraged technologies to produce innovative pedagogical practice within the framework of the Bake Off format:
- The Signature challenge: producing a bake adhering to baseline requirements but with the freedom to introduce new elements and show tutor personality, showcased through a project working with colleagues in the Faculty of Science and Technology to create consistent unit design across a department and improve the student experience of the VLE.
- The Technical challenge: demonstrating technical proficiency in baking in timed conditions with opportunities for skills development, showcased through an Escape Room activity for academic staff designed to get them engaging with innovative technologies and to consider their use in their own teaching and learning.
- The Showstopper challenge: fostering creativity and experimentation with baking, showcased through a mass casualty simulation event in the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences where Paramedic Science students were immersed in an authentic learning environment following a mythical ‘Godzilla attack’ scenario.
Session 5
“Inclusive approaches to learning spaces: co-design of digital resources in international contexts”
Prof. Jan Bamford, NTF, London Metropolitan University
In this paper we will explore perspectives on student and staff collaboration in international settings. We consider how student participation in the design and development of a project, to create interactive resources, promotes authentic inclusive leadership learning in two different country settings. The project considers the development of inclusive leadership skills for postgraduate students in different country settings as well as the development of citizenship skills through the knowledge exchange process. Through the voices of students and practitioners in the UK and in France with international students, insights are provided into the importance of student collaboration in pedagogic innovation. The theoretical underpinning of the project centres around understanding the role of the third space (Bamford and Moschini 2024) in co-creation projects with students which have the potential to encourage students to build relationships, student/student, student/lecturer and student/community. The focus for the co-creation project was the development of digital reusable learning objects (RLOs) in a participatory design context, where students were consulted with and engaged with the development and design of the tools. Through participation in the design and the intervention, there were enhanced possibilities for developing inclusive leadership and citizenship skills. The un-boundedness of the learning spaces allowed the researchers to conceptualise the learning as allowing for the relational and dialogic to be seen as critical aspects of knowledge creation, engaging dimensions of knowledge creation that were international as well as creative in the fluid spaces in which the project was located. The ideation and reimagination aspects of the co-creation dynamic represent both the knowledge exchange and the knowledge creation dimension of this learning environment. The methodology for the project uses a participatory research approach, drawing on participant observations, visual data and focus group and workshop data, collected both in the UK and in France.
This knowledge creation can be seen as being in addition to the formal curriculum. It furthers the aim of higher education institutions in meeting the educational needs of a culturally heterogenic student bodies, including international students and the improvement of learning outcomes.
Session 6
“Blended Learning is Political. An investigation of academic experiences of the implementation of blended learning change management programmes in UK post 1992 Universities”
Nakissa Campbell, Senior Lecturer at University of East London
This study examines how academics in post-1992 universities experience blended learning change programmes. It focuses on their experiences with institutional operations, infrastructure, and the escalation of digitalised educational practices. Among his various ideas Antonio Gramsci’s concept of ‘relations of force,’ highlights political and power imbalances between academics and their institutions. Gramsci’s insights reveal the pervasive nature of power dynamics in various aspects of life, including culture, the workplace, and education. His hegemonic gaze encourages us to view blended learning not just as a teaching approach, but as a significant factor reproducing dominant ideas. Moreover, these dominant narratives are embedded within common-sense claims surrounding the use of technologies for teaching and learning. Gramsci argues that these ideas should be challenged, deconstructed, and reimagined to dismantle systems of social inequalities and injustice.
Session 7
“Providing Adaptive and Personalised Learning Experiences for Students in VLE using Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning”
Dr Elaheh Homayounvala, Reader, Co-Director Intelligent Systems Research Group, School of Computing and Digital Media, London Metropolitan University.
This presentation explores applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) in educational technologies with a particular focus on Adaptive and Personalised Learning. It begins by clarifying commonly misunderstood buzzwords in AI, including AI, Generative AI (Gen AI), ML, and Large Language Models (LLM) highlighting their differences. Despite the novelty of Gen AI, this presentation delves into the extensive research themes in the field of AI in Education (AIEd) over the past twenty years.
The discussion then shifts to the concepts of adaptive teaching and adaptive learning, examining how these approaches facilitate personalised learning experiences. The presentation contrasts advancements in adaptive personalised learning before and after the advent of Gen AI from Intelligent Tutoring Systems to the innovative use of personalised AI chatbots.
By analysing Learners’ profiles and utilising AI-powered personalisation engines, generic learning experiences, especially in Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs), can be adapted to meet learners’ needs, preferences, learning styles, prior knowledge, interests, and more. This ultimately enhances the learning experience through adaptive solutions. Several research studies in this domain led by Dr Elaheh Homayounvala will be presented, followed by reflections and future directions.
Session 8
“Collaboration in a digital age: learning to work with new technologies in the creative industries”
Richard Lingard, National Television and Film School
I teach my students about leading edge film production techniques and oversee their learning of new filming technologies in pursuit of their role as Assistant Directors on film and TV productions.
Ours is a highly collaborative business and we have adopted many recent improvements in production technology, including the use of generative Ai, collaborative workflows, games technology for virtual production and the creation of immersive digital worlds.
Yet I find that the traditional learning techniques of apprenticeship – learning by doing – are still the most effective means for students to adopt and adapt to new technologies in our highly-practical profession. This applies as much to the creative art of directing as it does to the technical demands of the Games Design or Camera student.
The framework underpinning my own approach to teaching is a contemporary application of the Montessori Method where I follow the needs of the individual learner and encourage hands-on practice with new technologies in the prepared environments of studios, classrooms and filming locations.
The key challenge which my work addresses is the practical application of theoretical knowledge and new technology when faced with the frequent real-world and real-time challenges of film production.
The main contribution of this study is to appreciate the value of hands-on learning and evaluation of new technologies and to encourage students to think independently about their efficacy in the field.
Colleagues who will find this presentation beneficial will include all teachers of students who require enhanced interpersonal, collaboration and communication skills.
The main takeaway from this talk is our focus on – and benefit of – practical learning environments to apply new technologies and the emphasis on encouraging resilience and an enquiring mind for our students to absorb and adapt to a rapidly changing workplace.
Higher Education Research Group (HERG) 