Papers by Simon Paul Atkinson
The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 2011
The demands on academic staff in all sectors to adopt best ODL practices to create effective and ... more The demands on academic staff in all sectors to adopt best ODL practices to create effective and efficient models of learning in the face of increasing external pressures show no signs of abating. The massification of higher education, diversified access, and pressures to meet institutional visions and research objectives demand of teaching staff an increasingly public design process subject to peer review in numerous forms. Expectations of systematized pedagogical planners and embedded templates of learning within the institutional virtual learning environments (VLEs) have, so far, failed to deliver the institutional efficiencies anticipated. In response, a new model of learning design is proposed with a practical, accessible, and freely available toolkit that embodies and embeds pedagogical theories and practices. The student-owned learning-engagement (SOLE) model aims to support professional development within practice, constructive alignment, and holistic visualisations, as well...
This paper reviews the existing literature and established protocols for the use of intended lear... more This paper reviews the existing literature and established protocols for the use of intended learning outcomes (ILOs) in UK higher education, stressing the need to incorporate a wider range of taxonomies than just the dominant notion of the cognitive. The paper then goes on to explore an alternative visualization of four educational taxonomies as 'taxonomy circles', structured to support effective and imaginative ILO design before concluding with an illustration of how this model might be applied in practice. It demonstrates how a comprehensive and coherent approach to ILOs across all domains, with visualization to enable faculty to engage with potentially complex conceptual relationships, could support both effective design processes and enable future adaptive learning scenarios and student-centred learning planning tools.
New build and refurbishments of educational spaces can be significant financial commitments and o... more New build and refurbishments of educational spaces can be significant financial commitments and often represent ‘flagship’ investments for many universities. However, apart from their marketing brochure appeal and the contemporary feel good factor for current students of ‘being there’ (Crook & Mitchell, 2012) we should question whether they are really supporting effective learning. This paper advocates that truly effective spaces need to be more closely associated with the particular learning contexts one is seeking to enrich. Re-visioning our learning spaces requires universities to create and engage with a conceptual model of the learner and faculty, to develop not just new spaces but support for new roles within those spaces. The SOLE model is presented as a conceptual framework through which new spaces and new faculty roles are considered.
Proceedings of ED-MEDIA, Vienna 2008 …, Jun 30, 2008
Abstract: This paper describes the development and initial testing of a new framework tool for th... more Abstract: This paper describes the development and initial testing of a new framework tool for the use of digital video in tertiary education. It is set within the context of a project undertaken on behalf of the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) in the UK to develop a set of ...
This poster presentation seeks to explore pedagogically sound strategies for the use of digital v... more This poster presentation seeks to explore pedagogically sound strategies for the use of digital video to develop personalised learning and to engage learners in higher level cognitive activities. The poster illustrates work that is being undertaken by a team of developers and researchers based at The University of Hull, U.K. The team have developed exemplar materials, including a framework for the use of digital video in different learning spaces, based around one of the phase I JISC digitisation projects http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/programme_digitisation.aspx This is the Newsfilm Online archive ( http://newsfilm.bufvc.ac.uk/ ), a project consisting of over 3,000 hours of television news and cinema newsreels, taken from the collection of the ITN/Reuters archive covering a period from 1910s to the present day, and is being made available to the further and higher education community in the UK, online in high quality format for teaching, learning and research. Methods At...
College of EducationMassey University, NZThis paper investigates the responses and impact upon a ... more College of EducationMassey University, NZThis paper investigates the responses and impact upon a group of adult learners (educators)to a novel framework for the use of digital artefacts in tertiary education settings (theDigital Artefacts for Learner Engagement Framework: DiAL-e). The framework wasdeveloped as part of a UK project, sponsored through the Joint Information ServicesCommittee (JISC), to encourage academics and other educators to adopt digital artefacts (inthis case video) as part of their teaching, learning and research strategies. Eighty academicswere involved in a series of focus groups to pilot the framework during 2006-2007, and thedata from these workshops (recorded in video format) is analysed using Mezirow’stransformative learning theory as a lens to gauge the extent to which they have experiencedperspective transformations. The study categorises a number of different responses andproposes a tentative model for professional development in tertiary education setti...
With the emergence and popularity of online social networking technologies (Web 2.0) students are... more With the emergence and popularity of online social networking technologies (Web 2.0) students are exploring new concepts of self, identity and community both in real and virtual spaces. New theories are necessary to develop social policy responses, including those of educational systems and institutions, to the consequences of these new conceptualisations. We present an original theoretical model, the 3V model, to assist in the interpretation of existing theory, illustrated through an exploration of higher education students’ concept of identity in the interface between the ‘real’ and ‘virtual’ worlds. We wish to explore whether the theoretical and methodological instruments available within the broader Social Sciences are adequate to examine emerging notions of identity. Our emergent theoretical model outlines a set of complex assumptions concerning the concept of the “real-virtual” interface; it presents an internal structure to this realm and provides a framework for further empi...
This short paper describes a small, ongoing case study exploring how the affordances of a media s... more This short paper describes a small, ongoing case study exploring how the affordances of a media sharing Web 2.0 application (VoiceThread) can be evaluated for its pedagogical value. Web 2.0 technologies emerge so quickly it is difficult for educators to gauge their actual value in practical terms. In many cases the latest Web 2.0 technologies are superseded almost before they emerge from their beta testing phase. Rather than focusing on the individual characteristics or details of the technology itself, this case study uses a new learning design framework (the Digital Artefacts for Learner Engagement framework: DiAL-e) to chart the affordances and uses which educators might find valuable. The tool has been used as the basis of an on-line pilot project for the Joint Information Service Committee in the UK (JISC) in which academics from further and higher education have been learning how to harness the potential of digital artefacts and Web 2.0 tools to enhance teaching and student le...
Journal of Interactive Media in Education
With the emergence and popularity of online social networking technologies (Web 2.0) students are... more With the emergence and popularity of online social networking technologies (Web 2.0) students are exploring new concepts of self, identity and community both in real and virtual spaces. New theories are necessary to develop social policy responses, including those of educational systems and institutions, to the consequences of these new conceptualisations. We present an original theoretical model, the 3V model, to assist in the interpretation of existing theory, illustrated through an exploration of higher education students' concept of identity in the interface between the 'real' and 'virtual' worlds. We wish to explore whether the theoretical and methodological instruments available within the broader Social Sciences are adequate to examine emerging notions of identity. We adopt one well established anthropological instrument for identifying generalised value differences within contemporary cultural settings, the Kluckhohn-Strodbeck Value Orientation Preference Model, and apply it to both real-world and virtual-world personas within a single sample. Our emergent theoretical model outlines a set of complex assumptions concerning the concept of the "real-virtual" interface; it presents an internal structure to this realm and provides a framework for further empirical study.
This paper explores the changing nature of higher education provision and questions whether the e... more This paper explores the changing nature of higher education provision and questions whether the existing 'traditional' model of personal tutoring remains appropriate to the contemporary landscape. It details the elements of change that render obsolete the traditional view of personal tutoring as institutions move from being campus-based residential communities of learning to commuter non-residential communities. The literature base informing retention and success in the student journey is reviewed and comes to the conclusion that foundations in epistemological self-belief are fundamental in underpinning the relationship between academic guidance and student. It describes an attempt at facilitating dialogue between student and academic mentors around epistemological believes as part of the POISE Project and concludes that student support mechanisms must be more closely tailored to the nature of the institution and the lifestyle of the student.
With the emergence and popularity of online social networking technologies (Web 2.0) students are... more With the emergence and popularity of online social networking technologies (Web 2.0) students are exploring new concepts of self, identity and community both in real and virtual spaces. New theories are necessary to develop social policy responses, including those of educational ...
New learning technologies require designers and faculty to take a fresh approach to the design of... more New learning technologies require designers and faculty to take a fresh approach to the design of the learner experience. Adaptive learning, and responsive and predicative learning systems, are emerging with advances in learning analytics. This process of collecting, measuring, analysing and reporting data has the intention of optimising the student learning experience itself and/or the environment in which the experience of learning occurs. However, it is suggested here that no matter how sophisticated the learning analytics platforms, algorithms and user interfaces may become, it is the fundamentals of the learning design, exercised by individual learning designers and faculty, that will ensure that technology solutions will deliver significant and sustainable benefits. This paper argues that effective learning analytics is contingent on well structured and effectively mapped learning designs.
Practice and Evidence of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, Jul 9, 2015
For universities to remain relevant and competitive in a global market of Higher Apprenticeships ... more For universities to remain relevant and competitive in a global market of Higher Apprenticeships and work-based learning provision there will need to be a much clearer articulation of the benefits accrued by students in their ‘graduateness’. A review of 20 UK institutions, 80 undergraduate modules and some 435 individual intended learning outcomes (ILOs) being taken by students in 2014-15 reveals the lack of definition of ILOs in terms of skills development attractive to employers. This paper argues that employability should be more clearly articulated in the ILOs specified at module level and that the development of employability skills at an institutional level requires sustained attention to ensuring transparency in module designs to ensure student choice and measurable skills acquisition is possible.
BPP Working Papers, Jan 15, 2015
New learning technologies require designers and faculty to take a fresh approach to the design of... more New learning technologies require designers and faculty to take a fresh approach to the design of the learner experience. Adaptive learning, responsive and predicative learning systems are emerging with advances in learning analytics, the process of collecting, measuring, analysing and reporting data with the intention of optimising the student learning experience itself and/or the environment in which the experience of learning occurs. However, it is suggested here that no matter how sophisticated the learning analytics platforms, algorithms and user interfaces may become it is the fundamentals of the learning, grounded in meaningful pedagogical and andragogical theories of learning that will ensure that technology solutions will deliver significant and sustainable benefits.
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Papers by Simon Paul Atkinson
The Student-Owned Learning-Engagement (SOLE) model (publication pending) represents a negotiated, contested and realised model of ‘blended learning’ developed by the author, building on work derived from a 2006 JISC funded digitisation initiative and presented at LAMS & Learning Design Conference 2008. The basis of the SOLE model in early DIAL-e Framework designs (www.dial-e.net) and its relationship to existing pedagogical planners and learning design tools is described. Implementation challenges with writing teams are shared, feedback provided on early impact assessments, and academic responses reported. Early indications of strategic change are suggested
Audio only at http://lams2010.lamsfoundation.org/program.htm
YouTube Slides and Audio at:
http://spatkinson.wordpress.com/2010/09/06/lams-learning-design-conference-presentation/
The presentation will share practical approaches for the use of digital video (including archives) drawn from the Enhancing Teaching and Learning with Digitised Resources project in the United Kingdom and explore an innovative framework (DiAL-e) for the use of media resources that is transferable to other collections and other institutions.
Video: mms://193.40.5.165/2009/e-oppe_kevadkonverents/14_02_04_2009_Simon_Atkinson.wmv
ISBN: 13-978-953-7138-17-2
Atkinson, S. (2009). Giving up Control - The Future of e-Learning. Education Quality Improvement by e-Learning Technology (EQIBELT). Z. Bekić. Zagreb, University of Zagreb. ISBN: 13-978-953-7138-17-2