Well the week started later (as might be expected) with Easter Monday. Also with it being a school holiday and people taking leave, it was also a rather quiet week with very few meetings. This allowed me to crack on with a few things that were in my to do list.
University leaders said it was deeply unfair that students could get haircuts or work in pubs next week but still had no idea when their campuses would reopen, as the government announced that school pupils in England will be expected to wear masks until the middle of May.
The BBC News reported on Gavin Williamson wanting to ban mobile phones in schools.
Mobile phones should be banned from schools because lockdown has affected children’s “discipline and order,” the education secretary has warned. Gavin Williamson told The Telegraph phones should not be “used or seen during the school day”, though he said schools should make their own policies. Phones can act as a “breeding ground” for cyber-bullying and social media can damage mental health, he added. “It’s now time to put the screens away, especially mobile phones,” he wrote.
I was reminded of a blog post that I wrote back in 2008.
Does your institution ban mobile phones in the classroom? Does it just ban the use of mobile phones in the classroom? Or does it just ban the inappropriate use of mobile phones in the classroom?
The key with any great learning process is the relationship between teacher and student, get that right and you are onto a winner. Disruption happens with that relationship breaks down, not when a phone rings.
My experience of school policies today, is that they actually already ban mobile phones….
I also liked this response from @Simfin who is an expert in this space.
I did like this article on Wonkhe – Where next for digital learning? by Julie Swain. She says that the key pillars of action to support staff and students need to focus on are:
Digital poverty
Digital Learning Spaces
Mental Health Support
Digital Learning Skills
In the article Julie recognises that digital poverty isn’t just about connectivity and hardware, it’s also about space and time.
She says about space: Space has proven to be a major issue. There were assumptions that students and staff had “study spaces” at home where they could shut off and dedicate themselves to learning. Again that is just not the case for many and it is not uncommon to be “inside someone’s spare room or even bedroom “.
Though I also think we need to consider low bandwidth and asynchronous learning activities as well as space, connections and hardware.
Last Friday I delivered a presentation at the University of Hertfordshire Teaching & Learning Conference. There was some really nice feedback from delegates at the conference.
Really hard to gauge feedback when delivering via Teams and all I can see is my Powerpoint presentation screen. Twitter at least gives me some insight to how it was received.
Echo that! It was soo good that I forgot about the ice cream! Thanks @jamesclay @HelenBarefoot @KarenAnneBarton for a very informative and forward looking debates! Fabulous closure for the #UHLTC2020 conference
@jamesclay is taking us through the ethical issues of using student data & analytics. Privacy & consent is so important. Consent of the processing of data and what we do with it. Can we understand how data tells us story? how does this lead to action if any? #UHLTC2020pic.twitter.com/FSqbmj8SOF
As we design learning spaces, we can add sensors and mechanisms to collect data on the use of those learning spaces. It then how we analyse and use that data that allows those spaces to be initially smart and then intelligent.
Generally most learning spaces are static spaces designed to allow for particular kinds of learning. Some have an element of flexibility allowing for different kinds of learning activity within the same space.
We have seen lecture theatres where the seats can swivel to allow for discussion and group work. There are other lecture spaces where the students are seated in groups around a table, allowing them to see the front of the room and work together. New active learning spaces allow students to work independently or in groups, but the use of large screens on the table allows for whole group teaching or lecturing.
Often the pedagogy is shoe-horned into the space that is available and even if more appropriate spaces are available on campus, often they are unavailable for that particular slot or cohort.
Photo by Philippe Bout on Unsplash
In the past room utilisation was often a combination of what was in the timetable and what could be seen during a survey (often with a clipboard).
There is some technology already in place which can start us on the road to making better-informed decisions about how best to use space – sensors, for example. We all know when lighting is linked to a movement sensor because everything goes dark when we sit still for too long, promoting much frantic arm-waving to turn the lights back on.
But a smart learning space goes further than such simple actions and allows us to gather data about the spaces and, importantly, act on that data. We can turn down heating in rooms which aren’t being used, and some systems will take into account the external temperature, humidity and pollution levels, and not just the time of year.
We can use electronic entry systems, such as swipe cards, to ensure the security of the rooms, but also to measure room occupancy. We can also ensure that the lighting, heating and CO2 levels are within defined parameters.
If you then throw in data from the timetabling system, the curriculum, lesson planning, teacher commentary and feedback, student feedback. You then start to get a wealth of data that could be analysed and used to design and enhance the learning activities which will take place in that learning space.
A smart learning space would taken into account historical usage of the room and how people felt that the space either contributed or hindered the learning taking place there. You can imagine how users of the room could add to a dataset about the activities taking place in the room and how they felt it went.
Of course there is a challenge with historical data in terms of bias, errors and legacy processes. You can imagine that if a space, regardless of what it had been designed to be, was only used for lectures, then the historical data would imply that the space was only ideal for lectures. Bringing in more datasets would help alleviate that issue and ensure any assumptions about the space had some element of validity.
You would think that data from the timetable could allow for this automatically, but timetabling data tells us about the cohort, the course they are on and the academic leading the session, most timetabling software doesn’t have the granular activity data in it. What will be happening in that session, not only what was planned, but also what actually did happen.
The course module information may have the plans of the activity data within it, but may not have the room data from the timetable, nor may it have cohort details. You could easily imagine that some cohorts may be quite happy with undertaking group activities in a lecture theatre space, but there may be other cohorts of students who would work more effectively if the space was better at facilitating the proposed learning activity.
Likewise when it comes to adding feedback about the session, where does that live? What dataset contains that data?
Then there are environmental conditions such as heat, temperature, humidity, CO2 levels, which can also impact on the learning process.
So an actual smart learning space would be able to access data about the session from multiple sources and build a picture of what kinds of learning spaces work best for different kinds of learning activities, taking into account factors such as cohort, environmental conditions, the academic leading the session and so on…
These datasets could also be used to inform future space planning and new builds, but smart learning spaces are only the beginning. Taking a smart space and making it intelligent is an obvious next step.
An intelligent learning space would take this data, and then start to make suggestions based on the data. It would identify possible issues with the learning plan and make recommendations to either change the learning activities planned, or recommend a more appropriate space. An intelligent learning space would adjust the environmental conditions to suit the activities planned for that spaces, rather than users of the space having to manually adjust the conditions when it becomes too cold, too hot, too bright, stuffy, etc….
An intelligent learning space could take data from a range of sources, not just the physical aspects of the space and how it is being used, but also the data from digital systems such as attendance records, the virtual learning environment, the library, student records, electronic point-of-sale and online services.
This joined-up approach can provide insights into the student experience that we would otherwise miss. These insights can inform and support decision-making by individuals across the campus, including students, academic and professional service staff. By using live and dynamic data, decisions can be made that are based on the current state of the different learning spaces across the campus.
Making the timetabling software intelligent, well at least dynamic, could mean that learning spaces are not allocated to cohorts of students for a set amount of time, but learning spaces are allocated based on pedagogical need and student need and done as and when needed.
One of the key issues with all this is to collect and store the data somewhere, a centralised hub or data lake would be critical.
With institutions re-evaluating their teaching and thinking how best to invest, it’s a great time to consider whether we really understand how students are using informal educational spaces outside of the classroom. The student perspective combined with novel use of occupancy data is bringing us closer to answering that conundrum.
Reminded me of this blog post that I wrote this back in 2017 on designing informal learning spaces that would encourage informal learning.
Well the key really is to think about what actually facilitates and encourages informal learning.
It’s a combination of factors and can include design of learning spaces and the learning activities undertaken by the learners.
Creating the right contexts and environments for informal learning, will ensure that the concept of learn anywhere and anytime is encouraged and enhanced.
Though I wouldn’t have called it ethnography (and I certainly wouldn’t call it ethnography today) my blog post was based on my experiences in designing and running libraries, as well as developing the use of digital and virtual learning. I would spend a lot of time observing how learners would use our spaces, what they were doing in those spaces and I felt importantly what they weren’t doing as well. I would talk to learners, more importantly I would listen to learners. We would also measure space utilisation and activity in our spaces and all this would inform how we would design and change the space.
Sofa’s in the library at Gloucestershire College
When we originally designed the spaces, an important aspect to me was flexibility, being able to change the space as demands on that space changed, in how people wanted to use it and how many wanted to use it. All our shelving for example was on wheels, could be moved easily and quickly around. So following observation and listening, we would adjust the space accordingly.
The premise of that article was you couldn’t design informal learning (as that would formalise it) but what you could do is create spaces that would encourage informal learning.
It is more challenging to create learning spaces that encourage informal and social learning. As demands on space continues to grow and demand for more learner-led learning, it is important that institutions consider much more how their spaces can be used for informal learning.
Victoria Street in Bristol
Monday I was into the office in Bristol for various meetings and some training on culture. One of the things I did finalise was my performance objectives for the year ahead. One thing which I ensured was that my objectives were derived from the strategic objectives of the organisation. This way everything I do is contributing to the organisational strategic priorities. This process was something we did on the Jisc Digital Leaders Programme and I also illustrated in this sketchnote.
I also had a discussion about writing an article about Education 4.0, but with a copyright lens. At this time we’ve not really looked into the copyright implications of the changes that could happen in the world of education.
Alas when leaving the office later that day, it was pouring rain and I got rather damp walking back to my car. I realised my waterproof coat was in fact no longer waterproof.
Illness in others and terrible rain, meant that meetings were changed, so I was able to change my plans from going into the Bristol office to working from home on Tuesday and avoid the rain.
I saw a video in the Twitter on the fourth industrial revolution which I thought was rather good so I blogged about it.
Wednesday saw an interesting anniversary, as ten years ago on the 2nd October, I was at the ULCC Event, The Future of Technology in Education.
James Clay presenting at FOTE09
Little did I know the impact that this presentation would have on me, my future career and education in general. I wrote a nostalgic blog post looking back at the event, my presentation and the impact it had.
I spent a lot of time on Thursday interviewing prospective student partners for Jisc. We like to know what is important to students regarding their use of technology in education and research. What skills they think they need and how they want to learn. So every year we get a group of students from across HE and FE and work with them in a variety of different ways. Some attend our meetings, others our events, they participate in podcasts, panel sessions and workshops. I have always felt it was important to listen to the student voice to inform my work.
Friday I had various meetings, but managed to make a lot of progress on our Learning Technologist technical career pathway. We will be piloting this with individuals over the next twelve months.
My top tweet this week was this one.
It was on this day sixteen years ago that I was at Bristol Zoo and I took this photograph of a meerkat. Four years later I needed a picture for an avatar and the rest is, as they say, history. pic.twitter.com/Ax6jfyOFKE
CB_ALT_WED_38 https://flic.kr/p/XRVcwY CC BY-NC 2.0
I spent the last week at the ALT Conference in Liverpool where I listened and participated in a range of sessions on learning technologies. As I did the previous year I did manage to make some sketch notes of the keynotes and some of the sessions. I was using the iPad pro, Paper by 53 and an Apple Pencil.
My sketch notes are really for me, rather than other people. The process of sketching allows my to digest for myself what is been talked about and demonstrated. The sketch note provides me with a mechanism that provides a process for my interpretation of what is being said and what I understand from the talk. The process of sketching engages me in the talk in ways in which note taking does for others, or conversing on the Twitter. They are not done for other people, if other people find them useful then that’s just a bonus. Having said that I do share them online, through Twitter (and Flickr).
Quite a few people came up to me to ask what I was doing, what app I was using and if I was sharing them. I had similar questions on Twitter as well.
So how do we encourage students to learn outside the formal structures and processes we put in place across our institutions?
Informal learning in my opinion is learning that happens outside the “control” of the institution, but is part of the learning towards a qualification that a learner will undertake. This learning may happen within the institution, but will also happen outside at home, at work or in a coffee shop. This definition of informal learning differs from non-formal learning in that the activity of learning is still tied to the institution and the qualification, but is not a proscribed or set activity as set down by a practitioner or an academic.
So can you design informal learning?
No!
There we go that was easy wasn’t it.
You see when you design informal learning, you formalise it and as a result it becomes formal learning.
So if you can’t design informal learning, then how do you design informal learning?
It’s not about designing informal learning, it’s about institutions facilitating and encouraging informal learning. If this happens then, with encouragement from practitioners (rather than setting activities) we should see more learners learning informally.
So how should institutions encourage informal learning?
Well the key really is to think about what actually facilitates and encourages informal learning.
It’s a combination of factors and can include design of learning spaces and the learning activities undertaken by the learners.
Creating the right contexts and environments for informal learning, will ensure that the concept of learn anywhere and anytime is encouraged and enhanced.
Don’t forget the coffee, well of course that could be tea, soft drinks, even cakes and chocolate. Having refreshments can aid the learning process, but also encourages people to be within an informal learning space.
So where is it written that learning has to be uncomfortable?
After I put some sofas into the libraries when I worked in a college, I was asked a few times why do I have sofas in the library when the library is a learning environment?
I would ask then, where is it written down that learning has to be uncomfortable? Where is the rulebook that states learners should sit at desks on hard chairs? Is it not possible for a learner to learn whilst sitting on a sofa? Why can’t a learning environment be enticing, comfortable and even a little bit social?
Sometimes you want to take learners out of their comfort zone, but I am not sure that means making them sit on hard benches! Providing spaces that learners like to be in, ones they will spend time in, combined with other factors could encourage informal learning. If all other factors were implemented, why would you spoil it all, by having an uncomfortable environment?
With dependency on the internet and connectivity for learning these days, it is critical when wanting to encourage learning to have ubiquitous, fast and dependable wifi. Any spaces will need to have the capacity for multiple connections, many learners will have two or more devices that use wifi.
Dropped connections, insufficient bandwidth can result in learners going elsewhere or doing something other than learning.
Another factor that often gets ignored is the impact building construction can have on 3G and 4G signals. If learners are using their own connections, then building construction should be considered in respect to that issue.
When creating spaces that will encourage informal learning, then it needs to provide different furniture for different activities.
Sofas for calm individual reflective thinking, tables and chairs for small group work. Quiet secluded places for focused work. Use appropriate furniture for small groups discussion.
As well as the physical aspects of the space, it is also useful to
think about the temperature, the lighting and ambient noise.
Use furniture, walls and plants to create quiet and less quiet spaces for example. Having the same kind of lighting across a space may be efficient, but using different kinds of lighting for different spaces can both encourage different kinds of activities.
As well as physical spaces, it is also useful when encouraging informal learning, to provide access to virtual collaborative spaces. This could be the vLE, but other options are available such as Slack, WhatsApp or even a Facebook group. It’s not just about providing access (through the firewall) but also about providing guidance and best practice so that learners have a better understanding of the benefits (and limitations) of these virtual collaborative tools. It would also make sense to check that the organisation has a sensible Social Media policy that reflects the use of social media tools for learning.
Think about any non-formal activity and ensure that student has access to appropriate resources (digital and non-digital). Is access to those resources mobile friendly? Will they work on the kinds of devices those learners are using when learning?
One thing to ensure is you have an appropriate Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy to facilitate informal learning.
So how are you creating spaces for and facilitating informal learning?
You see when you design informal learning, you formalise it and as a result it becomes formal learning.
Okay?
But….
There is always a but…
You see informal learning is such a valuable way of learning for learners that institutions are often thinking about how to design informal learning activities… of course as we know, that means it becomes a formal learning activity.
It might be useful at this point to define what I mean by informal learning, how it differs from formal learning and the implication of using the term as opposed to non-formal learning.
Formal learning is is learning that happens within a structure prescribed by an institution. This learning may happen within a classroom or lecture theatre, but could also happen outside the institutions. It will involve set tasks and activities and a timeframe. Examples could include:
a lecture on macroeconomics in a lecture theatre
a lesson on statistics in a classroom
a field trip to look at tourist sites in Gloucester
Formal learning is very much about learning that is planned, organised and assessed. There is structure, constraints and expectations.
Non-formal learning is learning that happens not just outside the confines of the institution, but also outside the qualificational framework. This learning is often ad hoc and unplanned. Examples could include:
reading a book on political history on a train
using the web to discover how to write an iPhone Application through sites, forums and iTunes U
watching a television programme on archaeology
Informal learning in my opinion is learning that happens outside the “control” of the institution, but is part of the learning towards a qualification that a learner will undertake. This learning may happen within the institution, but will also happen outside at home, at work or in a coffee shop. Examples could include:
an economics student reading books on macroeconomics in the college library
media students discussing an assignment on media channels in the college cafe
photography student checking websites on photography in Starbucks
managers in a business discussing their management course over lunch
This definition of informal learning differs from non-formal learning in that the activity of learning is still tied to the institution and the qualification, but is not a proscribed or set activity as set down by a practitioner.
So can practitioners design informal learning activities?
No!
You see when you design informal learning, you formalise it and as a result it becomes formal learning.
It’s not about designing informal learning, it’s about institutions facilitating and encouraging informal learning. If this happens then, with encouragement from practitioners (rather than setting activities) we should see more learners learning informally.
So how should institutions encourage informal learning?
Well the key really is to think about what actually facilitates and encourages informal learning.
It’s a combination of factors and can include design of learning spaces and the learning activities undertaken by the learners.
If learning activities are dependent on learners learning knowledge and demonstrating that they understand and can apply that knowledge through an essay or an assignment, then traditional learning spaces are usually going to be sufficient. Learning at home on a desk is probably quite normal for this kind of individual activity.
However once practitioners think more creatively about learning activities and learners are given more choice and control about how they undertake their learning, then the space in which the learning takes place becomes much more important.
The learning space and importantly the informal learning space is really important if learners are to take advantage of the time and space to learn. Learners will learn in a variety of places both in and out of the institution.
Inside the institution, we need to consider how the spaces we provide allow for informal learning. In the past we generally divided spaces into learning spaces such as the library and social spaces like the refectory or cafe. If we are to encourage informal learning, then we need to create social learning spaces. Usually (in the past) libraries were silent working areas, recently quiet working is now the norm. Good library design allows for a variety of learning activities from quiet individual work, to collaborative group work. Space needs to allow for the use of both new technologies, user owned technologies and traditional resources such as books and journals.
Questions you need to ask about your learning spaces?
Are the computers all in one place in the learning centre? Or are they spread about the space to encourage group working, working with non-digital (traditional) resources and individual working.
Do you provide a wireless network to allow users to use their own devices? Does the wireless network “work” with mobile devices such as the iPhone or other smartphones? What barriers are in the way when a learner brings in their device? Do they need to register the device? Have it PAT tested? Are there power points for user owned devices? How simple is it for users to charge their devices?
Can learners access digital and online resources via the wireless network? Can they access online storage?
Are users allowed to use their mobile phones in the learning space? Not for loud conversations, but for internet, SMS or listening to audio and video content.
What about the coffee?
Likewise what about the traditional social space? The focus is probably on moving people through the space as quickly as possible through a short lunch hour! They are probably designed for eating and drinking and not studying. They are probably loud noisy places, some may even have loud music!
These spaces are fully utilised during refreshment breaks and are designed to ensure as many people as possible can get something to eat and drink before they then move onto the next lesson or workshop. That obviously means at other times, the space is quieter and accessible for learning; but is it accessible and accomodating to those learners who want to use the space for learning?
Are they fully open plan? Are there spaces for small group working? Do you divide the space out or are there no divisions?
Are there different kinds of furniture to cater for different needs? Are there chairs, tables, sofas?
Are there different areas for different activities? Quiet spaces for individual working or reflection? Group spaces for discussion and collaboration? Open spaces for debate?
Are there charging points for learner owned devices?
Is it purely a self-clear area, or do the staff take pride to ensure that the space is attractive and conducive to study and learning?
Has any consideration been given to the sort of food and drink available? Are healthy snacks promoted?
What about the coffee?
Yes it is easier to design spaces for learning and design spaces for social use. It is more challenging to create learning spaces that encourage informal and social learning. As demands on space continues to grow and demand for more learner-led learning, it is important that institutions consider much more how their spaces can be used for informal learning.
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