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Appendix:
Staff Development Strategies |
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Support for Projects
Support for the Release of Local Experts
Developers Forums
Expositions
On-line Support
Email Discussion Lists
Workshops
Self Directed/Informal Development
One to One Support
Symposia by Visiting Experts
Working With Groups in Schools/Units etc.
Formal Award Programs
Internal Conferences
Grant Application Seminars
Self Access Support
Occasional Papers
The literature is replete with suggestions as to the staff development strategies to be included in an overall staff development program to support the use of information technologies in teaching and administration. One suggestion (Longstaffe, Whittlestone, Edwards, Williams & Hammond 1996) lists the following strategies:
Service Strategies
Focused Strategies
We found all these strategies, and more, in use across the institutions we made contact with (all and more within some single institutions). In the text below we list the strategies in use and provide examples drawn mainly from the site visits.
Most of the staff development activities we encountered were being prepared and implemented in traditional formats using seminars, hands-on lab sessions, user groups and one-to-one support. Increasingly, networked solutions to staff development will be needed for reasons of costs, access and flexibility. While some of the strategies listed below are beginning to create an on-line community, work is needed to better coordinate these efforts through collaborative alliances, particularly in areas of common concern and in basic skills. In this way staff development can better model the cooperation necessary for the networked learning environment of the near future.
This strategy is in use at all the universities surveyed.
At the University of South Australia projects are nominated for support by Faculties, and if they conform to University goals, are supported by the Flexible Learning Centre's staff development and production teams.
At the University of Melbourne, the Multimedia Education Unit tends to support projects which:
At the University of New South Wales, the Educational Technology Service of the Professional Development Centre offer design, planning and project management services to individuals and groups working on teaching or staff development projects which involve technology.
Support for the Release of Local Experts
Some institutions are making funds available centrally to support the release from duties, usually teaching, of local experts to enable them to undertake developmental work with their colleagues.
The University of Canberra has used central funds to release experts (part-time) within each faculty to be Teaching Technology Advisers who then run a faculty-based training, development and advice service to others becoming involved in IT-based teaching in their discipline area.
Developers forums are in use at some of the institutions surveyed.
At the University of Melbourne, Multimedia Directors are brought together regularly to exchange information and address issues of mutual concern.
Many institutions organise expositions where the products and processes produced by staff are displayed and discussed.
This strategy is in place at several institutions, including the Universities of Melbourne, Sydney and New South Wales.
The provision of on-line support to staff is becoming popular. When offered in support of on-line teaching it is a form of modelling that offers users experience in the target teaching processes.
At the Universities of Melbourne and New South Wales and at Curtin University (among many others), on-line WWW sites have been established to address some of the initial inquiries regarding IT-based teaching and to help clients to clarify issues before committing individual consultancy time. These sites also flexibly support the casual staff who are unable to attend in-house training and seminars.
At Central Queensland University, the Teaching With Information Networks (TWIN) project offers a series of on-line modules about how to teach on-line. The modules focus on the facilitation of group work using networks.
At the University of Melbourne, the Information Technology Services supports Faculty based IT experts (Local IT experts: LITEs) through on line manuals and a Web based conferencing system.
The use of email discussion lists to facilitate communication among staff with common interests is increasing.
At the Queensland University of Technology, Computing Services operate an email list for staff and students interested in Multimedia. The list aims to share details of work in progress, advise staff of available grants and funding opportunities, advertise seminars and other developmental opportunities, provide a forum for discussion of industry trends and issues and to share information from external sources.
The University of New South Wales operates a number of similar lists, including lists focused on Multimedia, the World Wide Web and the Macintosh and Windows operating systems. The lists operate in conjunction with a number of semi-formal special interest groups which meet irregularly to address issues.
Most institutions run, or outsource a range of workshop activities.
At the University of South Australia student run workshops are used to introduce first year students to the information technologies available to them. They are run by later year students who have been given some training in the skills involved and in the curriculum to be followed.
Also at University of South Australia , technology issues are integrated into the compulsory induction workshops for new staff.
Self Directed/Informal Development
We encountered many instances of staff developing skills in information technology and related areas essentially on their own. The skills involved
included the use of email in teaching, training skills, programming, and instructional design. One academic describes her learning process:
When I started I had no email skills, I asked lots of questions of the IT staff in the computing room, I did a lot of trial and error, I rang up and asked. I get a good response from the IT people. We persisted in the beginning and have now developed a good relationship. They now know we are serious about it and willing to try things, so they tell us things and give me clues.
There was a lot of local, one to one support by enthusiastic 'early adopters' to their colleagues. Some academic staff devote many hours a week to this activity for their academic and general staff colleagues.
This is a strategy which is frequently employed, usually with reported success. However at times senior management in universities is not responsive as expertise in the flexible learning or educational technology area is not necessarily recognised by academic managers in other disciplines.
This strategy has been used by Sydney University, the University of New South Wales, and Griffith University, among others.
Working With Groups in Schools/Units etc.
All central staff development units contacted included the option of local support for groups in schools and administrative units as part of their range of offerings.
The provision of support through formal award programs for staff is a relatively recent phenomenon.
The University of Technology, Sydney offers a Certificate in Interactive Multimedia through its Institute for Interactive Multimedia.
The University of New South Wales' Professional Development Centre includes a subject on Information Technology for Teaching and Learning in its postgraduate program. This is a formal award program for university teachers, offering exit points at Certificate, Diploma and Masters levels. The subject focuses on teaching and learning issues as well as on resource development and evaluation skills. The subject is taught entirely through the use of Internet technologies. Other subjects in the program are offered in a range of on- and off-campus modes, with significant support provided by Internet technologies.
The Griffith Institute of Higher Education also runs a formal award program to Masters level in which flexible learning is modelled.
Some institutions are running internal conferences to address strategic issues facing the institution.
At the University of New South Wales, the Professional Development Centre runs internal conferences over two days for up to 200 academic and general staff every second year. In 1995 the theme was 'the Changing University' and over 50 staff presented papers. The proceedings are published.
Many institutions run seminars to assist staff and groups applying for internal and external grants.
Some institutions operate self access support areas where staff may use computer based and audio visual resources to develop their skills.
At the University of New South Wales the Professional Development Centre operates a self access support facility with a wide range of support resources ranging from typing skills to package training.
Many institutions publish occasion papers series to disseminate information on activities and projects under way and completed in the institution.