REPORT OF A STUDY TOUR OF NSW, AUSTRALIA

UNDERTAKEN BY K.WEBB
(UNIVERSITY OF HUDDERSFIELD & CONSORTIUM FOR PCET))
FEBRUARY 12th – 16th 2007.

Background:
The study tour of New South Wales, Australia, was undertaken for the purpose of
informing further development of the Associate Online project. The present phase,
funded via FDTL 5, is due to be completed by 31.12.07. but the initiative will
continue. Essentially, the tour was concerned to use the insights of others who,
because of their geographical setting, have a distinctive perspective. Academics in
Australia have more experience than is available in UK of facilitating and supporting
learning among dispersed students. Further, the process of supporting them through
new technologies has been quite extensively researched there (see for example the
TAFE Stage 2 online initiative: http://www.icvet.tafensw.edu.au/ezine/year_2006/nov
dec/project_update_tafe_ online.htm).

The specific purpose of the visit was to inform the formulation of a Development Plan
for online communities that are currently being established for 2007/8. These will
serve 5,000 dispersed trainee teachers in the Learning and Skills Sector undertaking
Cert Ed/PGCE courses leading to the awards of four English Universities. Continued
development of these communities requires moving towards more advanced,
“second generation” versions – and colleagues in New South Wales had been
identified as particularly well placed to provide evidence-based advice and support
for achieving this purpose.

The tour has involved three distinct components:

1. Two days (12 & 13 Feb, 07) at Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga,
consulting with members of the RIVET Centre (Research in Vocational
Education and Training) in the School of Education – the largest provider of
Teacher Training for TAFE in Australia (the equivalent to the UK “Learning and
Skills Sector). This ITT is provided exclusively via distance learning.

2. Meetings (14 Feb, 07) with staff of the Centre for Educational Development
and Interactive Resources (CEDIR) at the University of Wollongong (UoW),
NSW. Although two further members of the team were absent through illness,
three others were very helpful and gave time and attention to concerns
relating to continuation of the FDTL 5 project. Prof Sandra Willis, Director of
CEDIR, Chris Brewer, one of the Learner Designer team and Dr Gerry Lefoe,
Senior Lecturer in Educational Development all gave assistance derived from
experience of using ICT for multi-site delivery since 2000.

3. Attendance at the sixth International Educational Leadership Conference at

UoW, a two day event on “Leading Learning Communities: Strategies, Action
and Reflection”. This included keynote contributions from speakers with
international reputations and workshops led by some distinguished
practitioners from differing Australia contexts.

Each of these distinct parts of the tour is contributing in different ways to the process
of formulating a development strategy for Associate Online.
1. RIVET, Charles Sturt University
Despite making their own provision exclusively through distance learning, the TAFE
team at CSU use ICT to only a limited extent. There is a well used, general
discussion board for students but, pedagogically, that is about all. It is used
extensively and effectively, though, for administration (e.g. in tracking the processing
of student work). The limited use of ICT-based activity is because large numbers are
so geographically remote that they still have no access to broadband facilities.

In contrast, there is significant use of ICT in TAFE itself and staff at RIVET, especially
Ros Brennan, have undertaken substantial research projects concerned with
identifying pedagogic factors associated with its effective use. [Along with Erica
Smith, Ros has undertaken a literature review of “Discipline Specific Pedagogy” for
the TAFE NSW VET Pedagogy Project 2006 (see ICVET e-zine, August 2006,
http://www.icvet.tafensw.edu.au/)].

Two RIVET reports for NCVER were key points of reference in the discussion:
1. “One size doesn't fit all: Pedagogy in the online environment - Volume 1”
(Project nr0F05P) (http://www.ncver.edu.au/teaching/publications/965.html)
2. “All that glitters is not gold: online delivery of education and training - Review
of research” (Project nr9008) (http://www.ncver.edu.au/publications/662.html)

In identifying pre-conditions for achieving improved learning outcomes through online

means, a set of factors was identified in TAFE that also emerged from research
reported at the UoW conference as critical to success in all learning communities.
Further, these are major concerns of the “Associate Online” team and their
determination to get beyond limited conceptions of online learning and professional
development communities. In UK, these are often limited to processes of sharing
(e.g. via a discussion board) rather than collaborating (e.g. via wikis).

Discussions with Ros focussed on the implications of her conclusion that the most
effective online teaching and learning environments:
 reduce students’ reliance on text
 develop their knowledge beyond the transmission and assessment of content
 reflect on their own learning
 be part of an inclusive learning environment
 communicate extensively with their peers and their teachers
 become self-regulated and engaged with their own learning
 develop a group identity that connects them with their learning and its context.

The Moodle-based facilities of Associate Online are designed to meet these

requirements and the focus of discussions over future development was therefore not
on technical concerns, or even on pedagogical issues: rather it was with
organisational matters. Discussion with Ros helped in identifying likely constraints
and exploring alternative strategies for addressing them.

In particular, different ways of providing the necessary tutor support were considered
and NSW has experience of the two models that Associate Online has to chose
between. The first involves hiring a discreet set of tutors with e-learning experience
and expertise to moderate the specialist communities and to draw in and support its
members. The second is to add such skills to the teaching repertoire of the tutors
who already support the learners. The Australian experience is that both can be
effective, but in the circumstances of ITT (LS) provision in England as described to
Ros, she saw the first approach as most likely to ensure early success.
A critical concern is to avoid any early set-backs in attempts to use technology as
these can be irrevocable for whole cohorts of students. Such problems can be
technical but, equally, they can be organisational and these are perhaps as difficult to
avoid. It was suggested that an appropriate way of meeting the objectives of the
Associate Online project would be to aim for 100% involvement in a single exercise:
i.e. all students, in all subjects, undertaking a limited and achievable activity. It
should be selected so as to make self-evident the benefits of cross-institutional,
specialism-based collaboration – such as through a common assessment task that
shared evaluations of different specialism-based resources.

A proposal will be put to the next meeting of the Project Management Group with a
view to finding a common activity that will not only meet these e-learning criteria, but
also the different curricula requirements of the project partners.

Discussions at CSU, therefore, are informing immediate tactical considerations in

implementation of the Associate initiative, but in so doing they have substantial
contribution to the construction of a longer term strategy.

Interestingly, CSU investigations of online learning also have provided some

evidence for distinctive subject pedagogies in terms of differing requirements in
relation to e-learning:

“In areas of VET where the mode of delivery and the content are similar, such
as information technology, online delivery provides a form of workplace
training that is suitable both to the content and the students. In contrast,
teaching and learning areas that require practical tasks or where the
processes of communication, critical thinking and values clarification are
central to the subject area, such as welfare or travel and tourism, are more
difficult”. (“Different contexts, different learners”; Roslin Brennan Kemmis
and Erica Smith for TAFE NSW VET Pedagogy Project 2006,
http://www.icvet.
tafensw.edu.au/ezine/year_2006/jul_aug/litreview_discipline.htm)

2. CEDIR, University of Wollongong

CEDIR is the central unit at UoW that supports and promotes the development of
teaching effectiveness. Its Director, Prof Sandra Wills, gave up a considerable
amount of time to “compare notes” and to point to successful strategies for
encouraging adoption of e-learning. Dr Gerry Lefoe also gave time to suggest further
areas to explore and contacts to pursue in progressing an appropriate strategy for
further development of Associate Online.

Unfortunately, two further contacts at CEDIR had called in ill on the day of my visit
(Sarah Lambert, Manager, Learning Design, and Gloria Wood, Manager of e-
Teaching Services). The tight schedule of the tour meant there was no scope to re-
arrange things but, at the last minute, I was able to have quite a lengthy, and v. useful
discussion with a member of the Learning Design team, Chris Brewer.

Chris gave several illustrations and practical suggestions on how to ensure learner
engagement with online activities. These were drawn from a range of specialisms
and reflected Chris’s involvement with many course teams. The case studies that
she drew on included Gerontology, Engineering, Legal Studies and Health. Certain
principles were common though in securing tutor commitment to adopting new
approaches that involved e-learning – trust, “team-matching”, transparency,
production of illustrative guides and involvement in shared practical tasks etc.
Of particular note (and a scheme that could be readily adopted by a CETT) was the
process of drawing up “Faculty Agreements”. These involve a contract with the
Faculty for provision of a specified level and duration of technical support for a
member of the teaching staff in return for an agreed set of e-learning outcomes (e.g.
a multi-media package, making a set of lectures available on video via eduStream or
converting a conventional assignment to an assessed online activity). This is a
process of technical “buddying” that is proactive rather than reactive. It could be
seen as an extension of the “MLE Champions” scheme that has been previously
used by CPCET, but it brings the involvement of technical experts forward from the
implementation stage to that of design. It requires greater investment in
development time for staff, but it might be feasible for CPCET if current plans for
“HUDCETT” come to fruition. The required space in tutors’ time tables was created in
various ways at UoW, one of which was “Committee cover”.

Diane also explained how certain pedagogical processes were built into the use of
facilities such as discussion boards (e.g. online ice-breakers), and how students were
encouraged to participate (e.g. by the staff modelling the activity required). She, like
the others I met, also pointed to some people, documents and web sites for me to
visit in pursuing the issues we had discussed. Some of these are listed at the end of
this report.

3. Australian Centre for Educational Leadership, University of Wollongong:

6th International Conference, February 15-16, 2007.
The programme and proceedings for the conference, and several (but sadly, not all)
of the papers that were the basis of presentations are available from the web site at
http://www.uow.edu.au/conferences/EDU2007/Home.html

The theme was “Leading Learning Communities: Strategy, Action and Reflection” and
therefore highly pertinent to the purposes of the study tour. It was especially useful,
too, that the keynote addresses were very closely tied to recent research from
around the world that tells us “what works” in raising student achievement (even
though, as several speakers lamented, it is largely ignored by policy-makers and
teacher educators, among others). Interestingly, a basis for good practice among
teachers that was frequently cited was a “love of their subject”.

The keynote speakers were largely from Australia and New Zealand, but they have
international reputations and drew on a global evidence base derived from “500,000
research studies via meta-analytic research”. None-the-less, there appeared to be a
distinctive antipodean perspective on education in which “learning communities” in
general, and professional learning communities in particular, occupy a more central
place than is the case in vocational education and training in the UK. The concept is
not treated as problematic and it has an emphasis on characteristics which are not
taken for granted in the northern hemisphere.

From the evidence cited by all the different speakers, effective professional
development has to be deep, collaborative, active and ongoing, and successful
learning communities are characterised by shared professional identity, interactive
peer-to-peer support, creative and innovative team working etc. This is a refreshing
contrast to the restricted conceptions of a professional learning community that the
Associate Online team often encounter in UK. These seldom envisage features
much beyond a discussion board and a shared resource-base.
Given their attention to research evidence as a basis for practice and their affirmation
of the design principles of Associate Online, there was much comfort to be had from
the keynotes. Additionally, though, they provided clear and strong guidelines for
future development of the initiative, albeit in relation to pedagogy, rather than to
technology.

Conclusions and Outcomes

The benefits gained from the tour are substantial and will be evident in the “Phase 2”
Strategic Development Plan for Associate Online that is currently in preparation and
for presentation to the Board of the Consortium in June. The final plan will have to
await other developments too, but it will draw heavily on experience in Australia of
distance and online learning in VET contexts. Contrary to expectations though, the
lessons learned have been primarily in terms of pedagogical and organisational
concerns rather than in anticipating developments on the technical horizon.

Additionally, the benefits of the tour will be disseminated within the HE and PCET
communities by incorporating relevant considerations into articles and presentations
that are scheduled in 2006/7 for bodies that include CPCET, Escalate, TDA and HEA.

Acknowledgements
I am most grateful to all the people who have been named in this report for their help
and assistance in making the tour so productive, and for being so generous with their
time and ideas.

Additionally, though, there are two further sources of help and encouragement that
made the tour possible. I wish to acknowledge here the help provided by Cath Ellis,
formerly of the University of Wollongong and now a colleague at the University of
Huddersfield. She pointed me towards the most appropriate staff for my purposes at
UoW so that my time there was used to best effect.

Finally, I am indebted to Escalate, the HEA’s Subject Centre for Education who
provided the funding for travel and accommodation through their Development
Grants scheme.

Some useful websites

http://www.ncver.edu.au/index.html

http://toolboxes.flexiblelearning.net.au

http://learnscope.flexiblelearning.net.au/learnscope/go

http://www.csu.edu.au/faculty/educat/edu/vetfolder/research/index.html

http://www.uow.edu.au/cedir/

http://www.uow.edu.au/conferences/EDU2007/Home.html

http://cedir.uow.edu.au/edustream/

http://www.icvet.tafensw.edu.au/

Keith Webb
February 2007