Reconceptualising ‘curriculum’ for digital engagement in Higher Education Professor Keith Smyth University of the Highlands and Islands #SOLSTICE2015 @smythkrs.
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Reconceptualising ‘curriculum’ for digital engagement in Higher
Education
Professor Keith Smyth University of the Highlands and
Islands
#SOLSTICE2015 @smythkrs
What we will explore…
• Out notions of curriculum• Exploring idea of ‘digital third space’
in education• What’s happening in our schools?
Why is it important?• Harnessing technology in curriculum
design• Exploring the broader possibilities for
our universities
Two framing propositions
The most effective uses of
technology in education are
about providing spaces to create
and engage
Our notions of ‘curriculum’ in HE are often bounded by
assumptions of space and place
within programmes of
study and within the VLE
Our notions of ‘curriculum’
A fairly broad view
“…all the planned learning opportunities offered by the organisation to learners and the experiences learners encounter when the curriculum is implemented. This includes those activities that educators have devised for learners which are invariably represented in the form of a written document”.
Print, 1993, p.9
A step further
Fotheringham, J., Strickland, K., and Aitchison, K. (2012) “Curriculum: directions, decisions and debate”, The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.
Digital third space in higher education
The concept of ‘third space’
Key characteristics of ‘third spaces’
Not work and not home
Neutral ground where difference embraced
Social status is irrelevant
Bringing together those who may not meet
Amplifying issues beyond the ‘third space’
Sharing of knowledge for a collective good
‘Third space’ higher education
And a definition for today
‘Third spaces’ are spaces – or annexes – that extend our opportunities for engaging with learners within and beyond the university. ‘Digital third spaces’ are spaces that allow us to make connections between different groups of learners, allow our students to connect with the wider communities they belong to, and allow universities to better connect with their communities.
What’s happening in our schools, and why is it so
important to Higher Education?
Curriculum for Excellence…
http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2008/06/06104407/5
…and Sawney Bean
(Thankfully not a teacher!)
Harnessing technology in HE curriculum design
The TESEP project
The 3E Approach
3E Framework
Benchmarking good practice
A few applications of the 3E Framework
3E Framework in curriculum design
Pg Cert Blended and Online Education (Edinburgh Napier)
Enhance – Collaborative content creation
Extend – Student led seminars
Empower – Joining professional communities
Empower - cross-cohort online learning
Global Issues in Nursing module providing an internationalised learning experience (courtesy
Dr Karen Strickland from RGU)
Other models of technology-enhanced or technology-enabled
curricula
Students driving knowledge development
http://studentasproducer.lincoln.ac.uk/
‘Vertical’ and ‘horizontal’ projects
http://www.strath.ac.uk/viprojects/
Negotiated open online learning
http://www.getconnectedandlead.org.uk/show.php?contentid=160
Exploring the broader possibilities
for our universities
Digital Futures at Edinburgh Napier
Conceptual matrix for the Digital University
MacNeill and Johnston (2012)
The digitally distributed curriculum?
DFWG (Digital Futures Working Group) (2014). Digital Futures Working Group: Recommendations: April 2014 (Final Revision) Edinburgh Napier University.
And at UHI?
The ‘natural laboratory’of UHI *
* © Dr Gary Campbell
Our ‘as yet unbuilt’ education lab
Reframing what open education means?
Open UHI?
A Policy for Public Pedagogy?
The digitally distributed curriculum?
DFWG (Digital Futures Working Group) (2014). Digital Futures Working Group: Recommendations: April 2014 (Final Revision) Edinburgh Napier University.
Why is this important?
Because learning is about ‘pivotal moments’. When we look to extend and distribute the curriculum across and beyond the university - including through harnessing digital ‘third spaces’ for engaging our learners, wherever they may be - we increase our capacity to create those ‘pivotal moments’ in learning and development, and to enrich and expand the educational experience for all who should benefit from it.
Two concluding provisos
• We should not conflate ‘digital literacy’ with ‘digital learning literacy’. Many students need support to ‘learn how to learn’ in the ways explored today
• Similarly we can better support our teachers and lecturers to rethink their own curricula, and harness digital spaces and tools more effectively, if we allow them to experience ‘being a digital learner’
Where are the ‘third spaces‘ in your
curriculum, and what will you do there?
Thank you
Key references• DFWG (Digital Futures Working Group) (2014). Digital Futures
Working Group: Recommendations: April 2014 (Final Revision) Edinburgh Napier University. http://staff.napier.ac.uk/services/vice-principal-academic/academic/strategyactivity/DigitalFutures/Documents/Paper%20ENU-DFWG-25%20Recommendations%20Final.pdf [Accessed: 12 January 2015]
• Fotheringham, J., Strickland, K., and Aitchison, K. (2012) “Curriculum: directions, decisions and
• debate”, The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education. http://www.enhancementthemes.ac.uk/docs/publications/curriculum-directions-decisions-and-debate.pdf?sfvrsn=8 [Accessed: 1 June 2015]
• Gutierrez, K.D. (2008) Developing a sociocritical literacy in the third space. Reading Research Quarterly, Vol. 43, No.2, pp. 148-164.
• Memarovic, N., Fels, S., Anacleto, J., Calderon, R., Gobbo, F, and Caroll, J.M. (2014) Rethinking third places: contemporary design with technology. The Journal of Community Informatics, Vol. 10, No. 3. http://ci-journal.net/index.php/ciej/article/view/1048/1116
• MacNeill, S. and Johnston, B. (2012). A conversation around what it means to be a Digital University (Parts 1 to 5). http://blogs.cetis.ac.uk/sheilamacneill/2012/01/26/a-converstaion-around-what-it-means-to-be-a-digital-university/ [Accessed: 12 January 2015]
• Oldenburg, R. (1989). The great good place: Cafes, coffee shops, bookstores, bars, hair salons, and other hangouts at the heart of a community. New York: Marlowe and Company.
• Print, M. (1993). Curriculum development and design, NSW: Allen and Unwin,
• Smyth, K. (2009) Transformative online education for educators: cascading progressive practice in teaching, learning and technology. In D.Remenyi (Ed), Proceedings from the 8th European conference on e-learning, University of Bari, Italy, 29th-30th October. Academic Conferences International, pp. 549-557.
• Smyth, K. (2013) Sharing and shaping effective institutional practice in TEL through the 3E Framework. In S. Greener (Ed) Case studies in e-learning. Reading: Academic Publishing International, pp.141-159.
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