Category: CPD

Evidencing Learning – TweetChats, ‘Lurking’ and the Value of Reflection

~ LouiseRees ~ Leave a comment

Providing evidence of undertaking Continuing Professional Development (CPD)(1) or Continual Professional Learning (CPL) especially for HEA Fellowship claims (any category) can resort to a list of courses attended (in person/online). While certainly applauding an ongoing commitment to keeping practice up to date and having enough time to engage in numerous CPD opportunities, providing a list (bullet points or in sentence format) does not necessarily evidence the learning.

The important part is to take stock and reflect on ‘how can I apply what I’ve learnt?’ and if you did ‘what did I learn from that experience?’ ‘What worked well, what might need improvement?’ This demonstrates how you use evidence informed approaches and the outcomes from research, scholarship and CPD to enhance your practice (V3 of the UK Professional Standards Framework.)

Evidencing engagement in your Twitter PLN and through Tweetchats have been questions asked of prospective HEA Fellowship applicants. And that in turn has led to a wider consideration of evidencing learning.

  • Is evidence of engagement through responses to the Questions as captured in the Storify/Wakelet sufficient?
  • What if you didn’t actively contribute (2) but afterwards reviewed in greater detail the responses to the questions, refined the answers down to what might you felt was appropriate to your own practice?
  • Does that ‘count’ and if so, how can you evidence it?

Recently, I came across a reflective post using Pebblepad software about evidencing engagement in Tweetchats that I had found a few years ago but had forgotten about!

The recommendations there from David Eddy (@sonofedd) about spending a few moments to jot down your key takeaway message from the Tweetchat is so valuable. As are his observations that if you are engaging/watching, you are building your Personal Learning Network and sharing ideas on effective practice. That’s been so true for me.

As an educator, you can also initiate a subject-based Tweetchat perhaps in lieu of a Q&A session…and perhaps ask all students to produce a ‘reflection’ on key points learnt to enable any ‘non active’ participants to demonstrate their key learning ‘take aways’ – written/audio/video formats perhaps?

This in turn enables participants to demonstrate a great range of ‘deeper’ learning including consolidation, critical thinking and analysis that just ‘contributing’ during the live event may not. It would also address the ‘lurker’, ‘quiet thinker’ or ‘introvert’, acknowledging various ways in which we learn (K3). The ‘reflection’ aspect could address much of the discussion over the past year of trying to demonstrating ‘engagement’ or ‘interaction’ online (synchronously or asynchronously) as a proxy for demonstrating learning (see work of Bozhurt et al, Cain and Honeychurch in the Exploring Further section).

There are a few TweetChats in Higher Education: #LTHEChat and #CoachingHE are ones I follow (not necessarily participate every time), I will look at the curated Wakelet afterwards though if I think the topic may be of relevance to my needs). But there may ones in your specific discipline and so following key people, relevant hashtags and curating tweets, e.g. using Wakelet will help you cope with what can be a high volume of rapid exchanges!

So, returning to the issue of evidencing your own continuing professional learning, perhaps you may want to be selective about what CPD/CPL opportunities you DO engage with and critically review your practice first. What would you like to improve, before choosing CPL activities possibly based on ease/availability? Don’t forget that CPL can be asynchronous or synchronous, individual or a shared learning experience with others (Ferman, 2002). And most importantly, reflect on the impact on your practice afterwards.

Notes

(1) A5 of the Dimensions of Practice of the UK Professional Standards Framework
(2) Often called ‘lurking’ or ‘vicarious learning’, this, often “silent engagement”, does not mean that ‘participants’ aren’t learning because they aren’t contributing to the live TweetChat. There are lots of reasons why participants may be hesitant or unable to contribute ‘live’, including imposter phenomenon – Clance and Imes, 1978).

Exploring Further

About Advance HE and the UKPSF – see SALT’s pages: About Advance HE and UKPSF – Swansea Academy of Learning and Teaching

Cain S. (2012) Quiet: the Power of Introverts in a World that can’t stop talking, Penguin Books

Clance, P.R., & Imes, S. A. (1978). ‘The impostor phenomenon in high achieving women: Dynamics and therapeutic intervention’, Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, and Practice, 15(3), 241-24. Available from: Dr. Pauline Rose Clance – IMPOSTOR PHENOMENON specifically: 4.3.7-6-IP-High Achieving Women.doc (paulineroseclance.com)

Bozhurt A.; A. Koutropoulous, L. Singh and S. Honeychurch (2020) ‘On lurking: Multiple perspectives on lurking within an educational community’, The Internet and Higher Education, Vol 44, Article 100709. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2019.100709

Ferman T., (2002) ‘Academic professional development practice: What lecturers find valuable’, International Journal for Academic Development, 7(2), 146- 158. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144032000071305

Honeychurch S. (2018) – (@NomadWarMachine) Reclaiming Lurking | NomadWarMachine Blogpost of 12th September 2018

TweetChat Resources

LTHEChat.com: #LTHEchat | The weekly Learning and Teaching in HE chat created by the community for the community – Wednesday 8-9pm – you can access the previous blogposts and wakelets following these chats in the Programme>Archived Tweetchats

CoachingHE Chat: #CoachingHE | SDF – Staff Development Forum

What is a Tweetchat? See What is a tweechat? – Technology enhanced learning (wordpress.com)

[:en]TEL CPD Week – The Story Continues! [:cy]Wythnos TEL DPP – Mae’r stori’n Parhau'[:]

~ Rhian Ellis ~ Leave a comment

[:en]Shaking hands

May 13th-17th 2019 was TEL CPD week at SALT.

For the first time, we offered three ways to learn more about the pedagogical benefits of technology enhanced learning, in the space of one week: –

  1. TELTALKS19 – a programme of live online talks, using Blackboard Collaborate Ultra
  2. TEL Tools and Types of Learning Padlet – a digital bulletin board of links to a wide range of TEL Tools, aligned to Diana Laurillard’s six learning types, which lie at the heart of UCL’s ABC approach to learning design
  3. 7 Characteristics of Good University Teaching’ Seminar, a face to face session delivered by Dr Nigel Francis, Swansea University School of Medicine. Becoming a Better Teacher: A Flipped Approach’

Here’s a bit more information about each of the above and how you can still be involved. Lots of resources were generated that you can still engage with. Or, you can sign up for related CPD from SALT – see the links at the end of this blog!

TELTALKS19

Our online talks attracted lots of staff keen to learn more about webinar-type technology, who found the morning ‘Taster’ sessions a helpful introduction to the basics.  Many staff then built upon that experience by attending afternoon talks, which were on the following topics.

  • Polling as a Way of Engaging Large Groups
  • Padlet
  • Blended and Flipped Learning
  • Inclusivity and Technology Enhanced Learning

The afternoon talks enabled staff from around the university to come together and learn from one another’s knowledge, expertise and experience. There were lots of probing questions and comments to reflect on, simultaneously encouraging the development of skills in using an online, synchronous communication tool.

We thoroughly enjoyed connecting with Swansea University staff in this way. Sessions were lively, rich in content and varied in nature.

In feedback, our participants were enthusiastic about the possibility of using tools such as Blackboard Collaborate in their own teaching, learning, student and staff communication.

To the question…

‘Would you use webinar technology like this in the future?’

85% of participants said ‘YES’
15% said ‘MAYBE’

 

This word cloud represents how participants thought they could use it.

 

 

If you would like to learn more about using Blackboard Collaborate, accessing our recordings or would like to express interest in taking part in future TELTALKS, please contact SALT Senior Academic Developer & Blackboard Collaborate Pilot Lead Debbie Baff .

Debbie’s Blackboard Collaborate Pilot Padlet contains some more helpful information:

TEL Tools and Types of Learning Padlet

This is still available to engage with. Scroll down each column to learn more about the types of learning and the digital technology tools that can be used alongside or instead of more conventional methods of learning. Contribute by adding comments or posts of your own.

TEL Tools & Types of Learning Padlet

7 Characteristics of Good University Teaching Seminar

Dr Nigel Francis, Swansea University School of Medicine, Becoming a Better Teacher: A Flipped Approach’

This well-attended event was held at A019, the Active-Learning space at The Bay campus, and prompted lots of ‘flipping’ discussion!

Nigel’s first delivery of this seminar (held at SALT in March) is now available to watch.

 

More SALT CPD you might want to know about:

Flipped Learning CPD Module.

Inclusivity CPD Module

7 Characteristics Seminar & Workshop Programme

Postgraduate Certificate Teaching in Higher Education

HEA Fellowship

Blackboard Tests

Open Door Programme

Queries on TEL CPD Week/SALT CPD please contact:  Rhian Ellis r.e.ellis@swansea.ac.uk 01792 604302 or salt@swansea.ac.uk

Twitter @susaltteam #susaltcpd  #TELTALKS19

Also see:

UCL ABC approach to Learning Design Toolkit  

Laurillard, D. Six Learning Types (2002) [:cy]

 

Shaking handsRoedd Mai 13eg – 17eg 2019 yn wythnos TEL DPP yma yn SALT. Am y tro cyntaf, fe wnaethon ni cynnig tair ffordd i ddysgu rhagor am fuddion pedagogeg dysgu trwy dechnoleg, i gyd mewn un wythnos:-

  1. TRAFODAETHAUTEL19 – Rhaglen o drafodaethau byw ar-lein yn defnyddio Blackboard Collaborate Ultra.
  1. Padlet TACLAU TEL a Mathau o Ddysgu – bwrdd bwletin digidol gyda dolenni i amrywiaeth eang o Daclau TEL, wedi alinio i chwe math o ddysgu Diana Laurillard, sydd wrth wraidd ymagwedd ABC UCL at ddylunio dysgu.
  1. Seminar 7 Nodwedd o Athro Brifysgol Dda, sesiwn wyneb yn wyneb gan Dr Nigel Francis, Ysgol Feddygaeth Prifysgol Abertawe. ‘Dod yn Athro Gwell: Trosi’r Dosbarth’

Dyma damaid o wybodaeth am bob un o’r uchod a sut gallwch o hyd cymryd rhan. Crëwyd lawer o adnoddau gallwch o hyd defnyddio neu cofrestrwch am DPP perthnasol o SALT – gwelir y dolenni ar ddiwedd y blog yma.

TRAFODAETHAUTEL19

Mae ein trafodaethau ar-lein wedi denu lawer o staff sydd yn awyddus i ddysgu rhagor am dechnoleg math-webinar, fe wnaethon nhw ffeindio’r sesiynau bore ‘blasu’ yn gyflwyniad defnyddiol i’r hanfodion. Fe wnaeth lawer o staff yna adeiladu ar y profiad yna gan fynychu trafodaethau’r prynhawn oedd ar y testunau canlynol.

  • Polau fel ffordd i Atynnu Grwpiau Mawr
  • Padlet
  • Dysgu Cyfunol a Dysgu wedi Trosi
  • Cynwysoldeb a Dysgu a Gyfoethogir gan Dechnoleg

Fe wnaeth y trafodaethau prynhawn galluogi staff ledled y brifysgol dysgu o wybodaeth, arbenigedd a phrofiad o’i gilydd; roedd yna lawer o gwestiynau a sylwadau i adlewyrchu arno, gan ddatblygu sgiliau yn defnyddio teclyn cyfathrebu ar-lein cydamserol.

Fe wnaethon ni fwynhau cysylltu â staff Prifysgol Abertawe yn y modd yma. Roedd y sesiynau yn fywiog, cynnwys cyfoethog ac yn amrywiol.

Yn yr adborth, roedd ein cyfranogwyr yn frwdfrydig am y posibilrwydd o ddefnyddio taclau megis Blackboard Collaborate yn eu dysgu, addysgu a chyfathrebiad rhwng myfyrwyr a staff.

Wrth ymateb i’r cwestiwn…

‘A fyddech yn defnyddio technoleg webinar fel hyn yn y dyfodol?’

Fe wnaeth 85% o gyfranogwyr dweud ‘BYDDEN’
Dywed 15% ‘EFALLAI’

 

Mae’r cwmwl geiriau yma yn portreadu’r ffyrdd dywedodd cyfranogwyr gallent ragweld eu defnyddio.

 

 

Os hoffech ddysgu rhagor am ddefnyddio Blackboard Collaborate, cael mynediad i’r recordiau neu eisiau dangos diddordeb mewn cymryd rhan mewn TRAFODAETHAUTEL y dyfodol, cysylltwch ag Uwch Ddatblygydd Academaidd SALT ac Arweinydd Peilot Blackboard Collaborate, Debbie Baff 

Mae Padlet Peilot Debbie yn cynnwys fwy o wybodaeth ddefnyddiol.

Padlet Taclau TEL a Mathau o Ddysgu

Mae hwn o hyd ar gael i weithio gyda. Sgroliwch i lawr ar bob colofn i ddysgu rhagor am y mathau o ddysgu a’r dechnoleg ddigidol gellir defnyddio ochr yn ochr neu yn lle’r dulliau confensiynol o ddysgu. Cyfrannwch gan ychwanegu sylwadau neu gofnodion eich hun.

https://padlet.com/susaltysalt/TELTOOLS

Seminar 7 Nodwedd o Athro Brifysgol Dda

Dr Nigel Francis, Ysgol Feddygaeth Prifysgol Abertawe, Dod yn Athro Gwell: Trosi’r Dosbarth

Roedd y digwyddiad â chynulleidfa niferus yma yn A019, ystafell Dysgu Weithredol ar Gampws y Bae, roedd yna lawer o drafodaethau ‘trosi’r dosbarth’!

Mae sesiwn gyntaf Nigel o’r seminar yma, gynhaliwyd yn SALT, nawr ar gael i wylio

Diolch enfawr i bawb wnaeth gyfrannu a chymryd rhan yn Wythnos TEL DPP.

Croesawn eich adborth a gobeithio eich gweld gyda hyd yn oed fwy o staff yn rhaglen y flwyddyn nesaf.

Rhagor o DPP SALT efallai hoffech wybod am:

Modiwl DPP Dysgu wedi Trosi

Modiwl DPP Cynwysoldeb

Rhaglen Seminar a Gweithdy 7 Nodwedd

Tystysgrif Ôl-raddedig mewn Addysg Uwch

Cymrodoriaeth yr AAU

Profion Blackboard

Rhaglen Drws Agored

Am unrhyw ymholiadau ar Wythnos TEL DPP, cysylltwch â Rhian Ellis 01792 604302 neu salt@abertawe.ac.uk

Trydar @susaltteam #susaltcpd #TELTALKS19

Gweler hefyd:

UCL ABC Learning Design Toolkit

Luarillard, D  Six Types of Learning (2002) [:]

Facilitating #BYOD4L Bring Your Own Device for Learning

~ Deborah Baff ~ Leave a comment

[:en]Last week I had the pleasure of being part of the volunteer organising team helping to deliver and facilitate the #BYOD4L Bring your own device for learning online course.

 

Along with Sheila MacNeill from Glasgow Caledonian University, Neil Withnell from the University of Salford, Alex Spiers from Liverpool University and Suzanne Faulkner from the University of Strathclyde, we connected, communicated, collaborated, curated and created our way around a week’s worth of informal CPD and had a great deal of fun in the process !

It’s the fourth year that I have been involved in this excellent initiative by lovely super duo Sue Beckingham and Chrissi Nerantzi as a volunteer and I enjoy it so much 🙂

I always learn something new and get to know lots of really cool people!  It’s really hard work but well worth the effort.

#BYOD4L is an online course run over five days for students and teachers who would like to learn more about learning and teaching using smart devices and other digital pocket technologies through an open course/CPD. It enables participants to connect with peers and learn within a wider learning community.

Participants can engage in a series of individual and group tasks and activities using the 5’C’s Framework  (Nerantzi and Beckingham 2013)  A set of authentic scenarios are provided for each of the 5C’s ( Connect, Communicate, Collaborate, Curate and Create) which can be used as triggers for exploration and learning.

This year the team also considered some additional dimensions to the 5C’s framework … so we had 10 C’s instead of the usual 5 ! Confidence, (digital) Capabilities, Copyright and Celebrating! Sheila has written a fab blog post about these here.

 

We also held a tweet chat every evening and a live periscope every day.  (Find out more about Periscope here)

I was super pleased this year to see even more participants from Swansea this year. I held an informal ‘drop in and share experiences ‘session over lunchtime and was joined by colleagues Louise and Non … who were taking part for the first time this year …

 

If you want to know more, My reflections and various links are available via a PADLET here or please visit the course website for more info !

If you participated this year in #BYOD4l and found it helpful or are thinking of taking part next year please do get in touch!

Bye for now

 

Debbie(@debbaff on Twitter)

 [:]

Looking Back, Facing Forward – 2018 New Year Blog

~ Helen Davies ~ Leave a comment

[:en]Here in SALT, we thought we’d take a leaf out of PVC Stringer’s book and work on some New Year’s resolutions ourselves.  Kicking off the blog posts is one of our newer team members, Rhian Ellis with her reflections on 2017 and what she’s hoping to achieve in 2018.

What have I achieved?

Rhian Ellis
Rhian Ellis, Academic Developer, CPD Team

In September 2017, I was appointed to Swansea University’s Academy of Learning and Teaching as an Academic Developer, specialising in continued professional development. Getting to know my SALT colleagues and members of the wider University community has been a privilege, while settling into my new role. 2018 is going to be an exciting year! So, what have I learned since being here?

My career development in 2017 has encouraged me to reflect on my identity as a ‘learning teacher’ over a twenty-five year period of great change in education. Not only upon WHAT I have learned, but HOW I learned.  I find Jane Hart’s curated list of current ‘Top Tools for Learning’ most interesting for this. It can be seen here in the video of her keynote speech on ‘Modern Workplace Learning’ at the SALT conference in 2017.

Jane Hart image of tools
Image of tools taken from Jane Hart’s Conference Keynote 2017

I was surprised by how many tools I used daily (and encouraged my learners to use) for many years as a teacher, some of which were introduced in formal CPD sessions e.g. Prezi. I’m now discovering lots of new and useful ones on a weekly basis, often through my everyday interactions with colleagues and academic staff – another key characteristic of the ‘Modern Professional Learner’ celebrated by Jane Hart.  Learning in this more casual way illustrates how CPD is often informal in nature. For example, the tips we get from others and then pass on.

Jane Hart suggests we count how many tools we use regularly in our professional and/or personal life.

When I did this, I realised that I developed my use of digital tools for learning far more than I imagined – even ‘google’ counts!  Since September, I’m now using many more.

This reflection has encouraged me to be open-minded about trying out versatile tools such as ‘Padlet’, introduced to me by my SALT colleagues Debbie Baff and Mandy Jack in their September ‘TEL Month’ workshop. Here is a padlet I recently put together on ‘Feedback and Feedforward’ support.  Look out for workshops on this theme with myself and Suzie Pugh from SALT in 2018, by the way! You can even contribute to the padlet if you wish.

Twitter is another tool I’ve used more for professional reasons in 2017. It featured as the top learning tool in Jane Hart’s research for ten years, only recently being over taken by You Tube.  Twitter was created in 2006 by American founders Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone and Evan Williams, and now features a lot more than people’s dinner photos… thankfully! Twitter has become a useful platform for endless CPD opportunities, and I’m now a regular Twitter user.

So what are the benefits?

Twitter alone has enabled me to build a ‘trusted professional network’ at, through and for work.  I now have a wealth of information at my fingertips. I have connected with world-leading experts who share current developments in higher education, including newly published research papers, topical issues, shared experience and thought provoking debate.

Using Tweetdeck allows me to coordinate and manage both my personal and SALT twitter accounts with ease.  I took part in my first monthly Tweet chat on it recently, a ‘Peer Coaching’ forum, hosted by SDF.ac.uk. I contributed my experience of ‘peer triads’, and in turn learned about other coaching practices in the UK. @rhianellis3      @susaltteam

Screenshot from Peer Coaching tweetchat
screenshot from Peer Coaching Tweetchat

 

A big thank you to my very own peer coaches, Louise Rees and Debbie Baff! Louise and Debbie introduced me to SDF.ac.uk, a helpful community of practice (we form a great example of a ‘peer triad’ in action, by the way!). The tweet chat generated useful ideas for future CPD possibilities here at Swansea University.  I’m looking forward to the next chat on ‘Team Coaching’, January 26th 12-1pm.

I’ve also gained many new Twitter followers over recent months, mainly as a result of my retweets and comments. As a result I am developing my ‘on-line identity’, as well as contributing to a wider community of academic development.

 

 

 

Lots of academic staff at Swansea University share my enthusiasm for Twitter and its potential benefits. Connecting with you in this way has enabled me to get to know people’s specialisms, passions and questions. In turn, this can help inform CPD planning from SALT.

Now what…?

My intentions for further use of twitter include:-

  • Sharing expertise through more tweets
  • Refining the use of hashtags # to maximise engagement
  • Continuing to build my professional network
  • Applying my learning to CPD opportunities for academic staff at Swansea University
  • Promoting excellence in teaching and learning in 2018 and beyond

I also intend to devote a controlled amount of time to Twitter/Tweetdeck each week, flexing it around my priorities. One of the disadvantages of twitter is the risk of overspent time. As your profile increases in popularity, people may wish to interact with you more. Mobile devices also tempt frequent checking, so I have set myself strict boundaries.

My work in academic development in 2017 has definitely moved me even further along the ‘visitor-resident’ mode of engagement with digital learning tools, with lots of benefits.

My advice to anyone who may remain ‘on the fence’ about Twitter for CPD (as well digital teaching and learning tools) is to keep an open mind! There’s no obligation to ‘move in’, simply ‘visit’ whenever you choose and see if you find benefits too.

Happy tweeting in 2018 everyone! @rhianellis3 @susaltteam #CPD

Rhian

Blog created using Rolfe et al’s (2001) Reflective Model.

Rolfe, G. Freshwater, D., Jasper, M. (2001) Critical reflection in nursing and the helping professions: a user’s guide. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Other useful references:

http://c4lpt.co.uk/top100tools/rankings/

http://modernworkplacelearning.com/magazine/modern-professional-learners-toolkit-for-2018/

Beginners guide to using twitter for educational professional development on You Tube[:]

How can I improve my skills in digital learning?

~ LouiseRees ~ 2 Comments

Next month, Monday January 15 – Friday January 19 2018 sees the launch of the annual BYOD4L CPD activities aimed at enhancing your own skills in using digital media and devices to support your own learning and that of your students.

This is a great bitesize CPD opportunity, supporting more flexible professional learning in the modern workplace – a  clear message of SALT’s 2017 conference Keynote speaker Jane Hart.

In its 6th year of running, this online “course” will cover the 5Cs framework of

  • Connecting
  • Communicating
  • Curation
  • Collaboration and
  • Creating

(Explained on https://byod4learning.wordpress.com/topics/) with some extra Cs!  Check out their website for those extra Cs.

You don’t have to participate each day, but you can gain recognition of your efforts though Open Digital badges.

For more details about BYOD4L, see its webpage: https://byod4learning.wordpress.com/

You will need to have a Twitter account to participate in this CPD.

Follow @BYOD4L to keep up to date regarding the course and follow the hashtag #BYOD4L.

If you don’t already have  a Twitter account, perhaps make it a New Year’s Resolution to register and have a go at using Twitter for your professional development.  I was initially suspicious and a bit scared before I started my Twitter account, and now find it invaluable to keep up to date in my subject and also for professional development.

[:en]Mentor Standards for Teachers in England – links to the UKPSF[:]

~ LouiseRees ~ Leave a comment

[:en]

The word mentor written on a chalkboard
Mentoring – providing a guiding hand

This is the second two-part blog-post about ‘mentoring’.  This second post stems from my engagement in and completion of an online mentoring course aimed at mentors of trainee teachers and newly qualified ones against the Mentor standards (downloadable from https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/initial-teacher-training-government-response-to-carter-review). I’ve thought about how these standards could apply to the UKPSF and Fellowship categories.

AN ONLINE COURSE FOR MENTORS – WHAT’S THAT ALL ABOUT?

In December 2016, I caught a tweet from Sue Beckingham (@suebecks), advertising an online course that Sheffield Hallam University would be starting in January 2017 about supporting mentors. In delivering the course, the team were using Pebblepad as its platform and while the course was focused on mentors of teachers in the primary and secondary education sectors, I decided to give it a go! I wasn’t just interested in what issues these mentors would be facing and what I could learn to apply to the ‘mentors’ that SALT works with in advising HEA Fellowship applicants. I was also interested in how Pebblepad could be used in this way, the planning and delivery of an online course and how I might be able to use a similar method here at Swansea. A feel another reflective piece emerging here….

But let’s focus in this one. The mentoring course was delivered both synchronously if you were able to participate ‘live’ and also asynchronously over a five week period. Structured Workbooks in Pebblepad were developed by the course team, with text, readings, embedded videos/audio and tasks for reflection. There were weekly webinars, top tips, discussion points using ATLAS – the linked assessment space to Pebblepad – and optional tweetchats. You were encouraged to complete it in 5 weeks, but the recording of the webinars and Storifying of the Tweetchats enabled students to complete at a more convenient time to them and over a longer period. Audio files and videos were transcribed which was a great accessibility feature which Pebble Learning has addressed through its full html version (which we’ll be switching to at Swansea over the summer 2017). This seemed to be an approach that had been developed in previous years and used by a number of disciplines at SHU. (More details on the pedagogy on their blog)

The course content covered the currently optional mentor standards in England, guiding those mentoring student teachers and/or those gaining NQT.

Following an initial induction, the topics for the remaining 4 weeks were naturally framed around the mentoring standards:

Standard 1 – Personal qualities  – the vital importance of establishing trusting relationships, modelling high standards of practice, and empathising with the challenges a trainee teacher faces.

Standard 2 – Teaching  – Supporting trainee teachers to develop their teaching practice in order to set high expectations and to meet the needs of all pupils.

Standard 3 – Professionalism  – Inducting the trainee teacher into professional norms and values, helping them to understand the importance of the role and responsibilities of teachers in society.

Standard 4 – Self-development and working in partnership  – Continue to develop the new teacher’s own professional knowledge, skills and understanding and invest time in developing a good working relationship within relevant ITT partnerships.

HOW DOES THIS COURSE RELATE TO THE UKPSF/FELLOWSHIP EXPECTATIONS?

Staff likely to be eligible for HEA Senior Fellowship recognition include those “able to provide evidence of a sustained record of effectiveness in relation to teaching and learning, incorporating for example, the organisation, leadership and/or management of specific aspects of teaching and learning provision”.  They may be “experienced subject mentors and staff who support those new to teaching;” (HEA Website)

I reflected on several topics that were relevant to the UKPSF and satisfying the relevant fellowship criterion.  I’ve summarised them in the table below.  But remember that being a mentor of teachers in the primary of secondary sector isn’t eligible as leading others for HEA Senior Fellowship.  But there are many principles that can be adapted to an HE context for those mentoring teachers or staff supporting learners.  Comments welcomed on my cross referencing!

(Please click image below to view my mapping)

Mentorstandards UKPSF Mapping

SO WHAT?

Participating in this online course

  • Enriched my subject knowledge in an area slightly tangential to what I’m involved in;  It challenged me to think about how these standards applied in the HE environment and so made me consider more carefully the language and terminology used in my exemplars so that they could be understood by a wider audience and the course team marking my submission.
  • Challenged me to consider what literature was relevant to staff considering further development as mentors;
  • Enabled me to recognise communalities between those mentoring staff new to teaching in HE and how leading in this area might provide some of the evidence necessary for demonstrating HEA Senior Fellowship attributes;
  • Made me realise that the CPD challenges remain the same for those in HE – finding appropriate time to do it and recognise there are informal and formal approaches to CPD.
  • In mentoring we can apply a ‘coaching approach’ with more direction in the initial phases of someone’s career – show them how to do it, then fostering independent learning/practice by deepening their awareness of relevant literature and alternate practices.Going along to a workshop or seminar.
  • Provided fantastic CPD opportunities with greater reading and information exchange via the webinars and Twitter and also
  • Enhanced my community of practice, both through these online approaches to supporting learning (becoming aware of the Staff Development Forum, but also in the use of the discussion board option in ATLAS – the Conversations.

From a delivery point of view:

  • enabled me to sympathise with the difficulties participating in what was a  5 week course – but in practice took me 10 weeks to complete
  • I recognised the issue regarding design of the online resource and its delivery and the value of the synchronous versus asynchronous engagement – the recorded webinars and storify option of the Tweetchats are great, but the buzz from the online participation is infectious and something difficult to convey in the storify ‘artefact’.

NOW WHAT?

There remains lots to do as a result of this course:

  1. signposting to the relevant literature for our mentors.
  2. continuing to connect and promote coaching and mentoring
  3. still trying to find a convenient time to have that World Cafe style event that I mentioned in Mentoring blog Post #1 and/or promoting our network of mentors to get together, part of Mentor Standard 4: Self-development and working in partnership.
  4. Have I got the mapping of the Mentor standards to the UKPSF and Categories of Fellowship right?

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Mentoring course at SHU: https://blogs.shu.ac.uk/mentorshooc/ or Twitter: @mentorshooc hashtag #mentorshooc

Mentor Standards in Initial Teacher Training https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/536891/Mentor_standards_report_Final.pdf

UKPSF: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/ukpsf

Coaching or mentoring in HE  (in particular if you are interest in gaining experience for eligibility for Senior Fellowship of the HEA)

Staff Development Forum https://sdf.ac.uk/ and its Friday lunchtime 12 – 1 p.m monthly Tweetchats on Coaching @SDFACUK[:]

[:en]Inclusivity CPD[:cy]DPP (Datblygiad Proffesiynol Parhaus) Cynwysoldeb[:]

~ Mandy Jack ~ Leave a comment

[:en]SALT would like to welcome you to our first CPD Byte. We have created a Blackboard course called CPD Inclusivity which is designed to help all teaching and support staff to develop a more inclusive approach to their role. The course contains lots of information about your obligations in terms of the law and Swansea University’s policies regarding provision for the full range of protected characteristics.

The course is under development and therefore we would welcome your ideas and opinions. There is a blog section where members of staff are encouraged to post valuable, up to date information about Inclusive Practice in their particular discipline. We will also be supplementing the online content with workshops. The first one is ‘Being an Inclusive Personal Tutor’, which we are working on at the moment.

I am hoping that the course content itself, and the need to be better at what we do, will be enough motivation to take part in the Inclusivity CPD patch, but I anticipate that badges embed an additional incentive to learn.

The idea is that staff can experience the instructional content, delivered in the module, and then be rewarded with a digital image of a “badge” upon completion. These digital badges can serve as recognisers of certifiable skills.

You may already be enrolled, so look out for the CDP Inclusivity in your Current Modules 1617.  If you can’t see the module, follow the instructions below.

  1. First ensure that you are logged on to Blackboard
  2. Click on http://bit.ly/CPDInclusivity
  3. Click on the “Click Here to Enrol” link
  4. Click on the green + Enrol button on the left
  5. Let Mandy Jack know how you get on m.j.jack@swansea.ac.uk

Image version of the instructions above[:cy]Hoffai Academi Dysgu ac Addysgu Abertawe (SALT) eich croesawu i’ch Beit DPP cyntaf. Rydym wedi creu cwrs Blackboard o’r enw DPP Cynwysoldeb, y’i nod yw helpu’r holl staff addysgu a chymorth i ddatblygu ymagwedd fwy cynhwysol yn eu rôl. Mae’n cynnwys llawer o wybodaeth am eich dyletswyddau yn unol â’r gyfraith a pholisïau Prifysgol Abertawe o ran darpariaeth ar gyfer yr ystod lawn o nodweddion gwarchodedig.

Mae’r cwrs wrthi’n cael ei ddatblygu, felly byddem yn croesawu’ch syniadau a’ch barn. Ceir adran blogio lle anogir aelodau staff i roi gwybodaeth gyfredol werthfawr am Arfer Cynhwysol yn eu disgyblaethau penodol. Byddwn yn ychwanegu at y cynnwys ar-lein drwy weithdai hefyd. Yr un cyntaf yw ‘Bod yn Diwtor Personol Cynhwysol’, yr ydym yn gweithio arno ar hyn o bryd.

Gobeithiaf y bydd cynnwys y cwrs ei hun, a’r angen i wneud yr hyn a wnawn yn well, yn ddigon o ysgogiad i gymryd rhan yn y cwrs DPP Cynwysoldeb, ond rhagwelaf y bydd bathodynnau yn ysgogiad ychwanegol i ddysgu.

Y syniad yw y gall staff brofi’r cynnwys cyfarwyddol, a gyflwynir yn y modiwl, yna cael eu gwobrwyo â llun digidol o fathodyn ar ôl ei gwblhau. Gall y bathodynnau digidol ddynodi sgiliau ardystiadwy.
Mae’n bosib eich bod wedi’ch cofrestru eisoes, felly cadwch lygad am DPP Cynwysoldeb yn eich Modiwlau Cyfredol 1617. Os na welwch y modiwl, dilynwch y cyfarwyddiadau isod.

  1. Yn gyntaf, sicrhewch eich bod wedi mewngofnodi i Blackboard
  2. Cliciwch ar http://bit.ly/CPDInclusivity
  3. Cliciwch ar y ddolen “Click Here to Enrol” link
  4. Cliciwch ar y botwm gwyrdd + Enrol ar y chwith
  5. Dywedwch wrth Mandy Jack sut yr aeth pethau drwy e-bostio m.j.jack@abertawe.ac.uk

An image version of the instructions above[:]