The Digital Educator project sets out to identify significant developments in Educational Technology which can influence the HE Distance Learning Sector in the next two to five years.

Focussing on selected educational technologies, the project explores the possible impact of these innovations on the role of the educator.

This project covers pedagogic, cultural and financial dimensions. It assesses the readiness of academics to adapt to and make use of the innovations.

The project is designed to have significant engagement with stakeholders and final outputs will include a potential skills development roadmap. This will ensure that the academic community (focused on the University of London) are prepared to be the digital educators of the future.

Funding

This project is funded through a grant from the University of London Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE).

Project team

• Marco Gillies, Goldsmiths College (CODE Fellow)
• Jon Gregson, SOAS, Centre for Development Environment and Policy (Project Lead) (CODE Fellow)
• Jonathan San Diego,King’s College London (CODE Fellow)
• Tony Sheehan (formerly London Business School) (former CODE Fellow)
• Christine Thuranira-McKeever, RVC (CODE Fellow).

Time frame

May 2018 - December 2019

This project is now completed.

Outputs and resources

• Download the Digital Educator project final report

About the project

The Digital Educator Phase 2 aims to explore the experience and insights of distance learning educators and students with digital technologies. The interest is in current practices, awareness and ideas related to the future potential of digital technologies in enhancing distance education tutoring and learning and ensuring programmes offered through University of London remaining cutting edge. 

Due to the timing of the study, coinciding with the global Covid-19 pandemic, a member institution of the UoL Federation participated in the workshop on tutors’ views on the future of digital education and use of digital technologies with consideration given to the ‘Digital Education I’ project. An adapted version of the foresight methodology was used for the workshop and interviews with online tutors and teaching institutions involved in the delivery of the UoL institutions courses were also conducted.

As a result of the workshop and interviews, a report has been completed which has recommendations to inform the survey part of this project. Whereas the DE1 surveyed educators, the Digital Educator 2 survey respondents are students from a selected University of London programmes to identify how students perceived the level of awareness, importance, relevance, and willingness to use specific pieces of functionality offered by digital learning technologies. The project has already developed the survey and is at the stage of ethics application approval. The project is recommencing in Jan 2023.

Funding

This project is funded through a grant from the University of London Centre for Distance Education (CDE).

Project team

Jon Gregson (CODE Fellow)
Dr Jonathan San Diego (CODE Fellow)
Dr Christine Thuranira-McKeever (CODE Fellow)
Dr Marco Gillies (CODE Fellow)
Oskar Martin Höstlund (CODE Student Research Fellow)

Time frame

January 2022 – July 2023

Outputs and resources

The report on the first stage of the DE2 project (Workshop) is completed and will be made available soon in the CODE Website.
The DE2 survey is completed and will be made administered soon after ethics approval. 
A report and a possible journal publication combining findings from DE1 and DE2 will be completed.  

About the project

The project aims to inform future planning for the medium to longer term by identifying realistic scenarios now for the future of online and distance education taking into consideration the global nature of University of London’s provision. What are the opportunities and threats and what might the ‘new normal’ or the one after that look like for providers of online and distance education?  What would be the implications for the University of London’s own activities in planning for the future of online and distance education in order to remain cutting edge in its approaches?  

The project uses foresight methodologies to address these questions and provide strategic insights that can help educators and planners to move towards a preferred scenario for future online and distance education provision. Whilst there is a focus on University of London activities, the study is also intended to be of interest and benefit to the wider community of online and distance education providers.

Funding

This project is funded through a grant from the University of London Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE).

Project team

• Samantha Ahern (CODE fellow)
• Professor Stephen Brown (CODE fellow)
• Jon Gregson (CODE fellow)
• Professor Norbert Pachler (CODE fellow)
• Dr Maylyn Tan (CODE fellow)
• Student Research Fellow(s) (to be confirmed)

Time frame

September 2022 to April 2023

Outputs and resources

Literature review [PDF]
Project report [PDF]
 

About the project

Our aim is to design and pilot alternatives to the traditional discussion forum in online and distance education courses. The project proposes to develop alternative forms of discursive spaces, based on dialogic learning theory and the literature specific to distance and online education, and using contemporary technologies and software. 

Funding 

This project is funded through a grant from the University of London Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE). 

Project team 

• Dr Christina Howell-Richardson (CDE Fellow) 
• Dr Gwyneth Hughes  (CDE Fellow) 
• Dr Matt Phillpott (CDE Fellow) 
• Dr Anita Skinner (CDE Fellow) 
• Dr Donna Smith (CDE Fellow) 
• Neil Mosley (CDE Fellow) 

Time frame 

October 2022 - December 2023 

Outputs and resources 

The aim is to enhance sustained exploratory discourse and group enquiry in online distance learning. The design of alternative spaces for group discussion and collaborative enquiry will be integrated within the CODE professional development courses; and most specifically within the Postgraduate Certificate of Learning in Teaching in Higher Education which is both an international and transnational course. The aim is to enhance sustained exploratory discourse and group enquiry in online distance learning.  

Planned Outputs – January – December 2023  

Presentation at RIDE Conference 2023 

Presentation/talk at the Supporting Student Success conference 

CODE Workshop to disseminate and gain feedback on the project findings 

Publication in peer reviewed journal 

About the project

In an undergraduate fully-online clinical psychology module, students meet via web conferencing to undertake synchronous peer-led role play activities that allow them to practice and develop their skills and explore interventions for a variety of psychological disorders. This project aims to conduct an evaluation of the value for the student experience resulting from these role-play scenarios. Gathering qualitative data through focus group interviews we are seeking to better understand the experience of the student and identify factors that impact upon their engagement and learning. 

Funding 

This project is funded through a grant from the University of London Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE). 

Project team 

Dr Luke Woodham  (CODE Fellow) 
Ms Anna Armstrong 
Ms Christine Atieno Amolo  (CODE Student Fellow) 

Time frame 

August 2022 – May 2023 

Outputs and resources 

The project aims to deliver a range of dissemination outputs in 2023, including presentations and blog posts. The project also aims to provide recommendations to inform the future development of the role play activities in the BSc Psychology curriculum. 

RIDE 2023 presentation slides

About the project

This project builds on a previous project to develop a self-paced online module, PDF guide, and instructor toolkit, which helps students to develop their ideas and study processes for writing a dissertation or final project as part of their Masters degree study.

In the initial project (2019-2021) we developed six H5P modules and PDF guides with an instructor toolkit for each, which is now available as an OER resource online. In this project, we will develop an additional module, guide, and toolkit materials and conduct an online survey of students across UK Higher Education. The survey is particularly important, as it will provide a snapshot of students' concerns and challenges concerning the dissertation project, and offer us an opportunity to tailor the new module to these needs and any training provision gap.

Funding

This project is funded through a grant from the University of London Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE)

Project team

Dr Matthew Phillpott (CODE Fellow)

Dr Clare Sansom (CODE Fellow)

Dr David Baume (CODE Fellow)

Professor Stephen Brown (CODE Fellow)

Angels Puig Arce (Student CODE Fellow)

Lucy Skoulding (Student CODE Fellow)

Timeframe

January 2022-September 2023

Outputs and resources

• Survey report with analysis of results
• 1 x OER module (H5P) with downloadable file
• 1 x OER PDF guide
• 1 x set of instructor toolkit materials
• Participation in the Supporting Student Success World Café in January 2023
• Presentation at a CODE event

About the project

The aim of this project is to provide guidance on writing and using learning outcomes in University of London programmes. Current programme and module learning outcomes are not always constructively aligned with learning activities and assessment. One reason for this is thought to be lack of clarity concerning the nature of learning outcomes themselves.

Funding

This project is funded through a grant from the University of London Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE). 

Project team

Dr David Baume (CODE Fellow)
Dr Elizabeth Burns (CODE Fellow, Reader in Philosophy of Religion, and Programme Director, University of London Divinity Programmes)

Time frame

October 2022 - March 2023

Outputs and resources

Guidance notes on writing good learning outcomes for University of London programmes. 
Presentation at a CODE event

About the project

The Bloomsbury Learning Exchange (BLE) is developing a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on the FutureLearn platform. Aimed primarily at under-represented groups, the course will seek to guide potential applicants and dispel misconceptions they may have about doctoral study. The resource is co-authored by a small team of doctoral students, who draw upon their own experiences and that of their peers.  For this project, CODE Fellows have been recruited to offer the perspective of experienced doctoral supervisors and admin staff.  

Funding 

The CODE project is funded through a grant from the University of London Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE). 

Project team 

Sarah Sherman (Project Director, CODE Fellow) 
Nancy Weitz (Project Lead) 
Ashley Cox (CODE Fellow) 
Oscar Mwaanga (CODE Fellow) 
Nichola Gretton (CODE Fellow) 

Time frame 

August 2022 – August 2023 for the course development, but the CODE Fellows will work mostly between September 2022 and January 2023. 

Outputs and resources 

Two of the CODE Fellows will review and enhance the text produced by the Authors with contributions from the perspective of doctoral supervisors. The third Fellow will help guide the Authors into the next phase of development – creating the learning design. 

Ultimately the course will stand as the finished resource, having included contributions from all three CODE Fellows, the course Authors and other course development teams.  

About the project

At Queen Mary University of London, a highly ambitious project in mixed-mode education (MME) (hybrid) delivery was rolled out across the entire institution from Summer 2021. A university-wide survey conducted in 2021/2 showed that students felt MME was inclusive, flexible and prepared them for the world of work. Educator feedback however presented concerns that students do not always know how to make most effective use of MME and specifically that online students can be less engaged in learning than their in-class peers during MME sessions.

The aim of this project is to review a set of student-facing resources developed by Queen Mary on the use of MME in order to make improvements to the resource for Summer 2023.

Funding

This project is funded through a grant of £2000 from the University of London Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE) for Fellows time.

Project team

Shoshi Ish-Horowicz (CODE Fellow, Project Lead)
Danielle Thibodeau (Queen Mary University of London, Project Lead)
Leo Havemann (CODE Fellow, UCL)
Leonard Houx (CODE Fellow, Cambridge Education Group)
Dr Jonathan San Diego (CODE Fellow, King’s College London)
Dr Julie Voce (CODE Fellow, City, University of London)

Time frame

CODE involvement - November 2022 - February 2023

Outputs and resources

The project will produce a feedback report for Queen Mary with recommendations for improving the student-facing resources. 

Project sponsors

• Professor Mary Stiasny, PVC (International), University of London
• Dr Sandra Tury, Associate Director-Online Library Services, University of London.

Project goals

Successfully integrate information literacy (IL) skills into a wide range of University programmes.

In a little more detail, the project aims to provide programme teams with support on IL that is practical, evidence- and practice-based and scholarship-informed. This support should lead to enhancements in students’ critical and informed use of a range of appropriate information sources.

Issues to explore include:

• accounts of IL
• responsibility for IL in course design, teaching, and library and information services
• IL demands on students and support for student IL development
• teaching institutions and IL
• student approaches to IL
• professional requirements for IL
• relations with Digital Literacy; critical IL.

Working definition of information Literacy (IL)

“Knowing when and why you need information, where to find it, and how to evaluate, use and communicate it in an ethical manner” ( From CILIP, 2004).

Project objectives

1. To identify current policy and good practice in the development of information literacy across the curriculum in University of London Programmes.
2. To support the integration of IL skills into curricula at both postgraduate and undergraduate levels, through working with Programme Teams and delivering writing workshop(s) for Programme Teams to facilitate the integration of IL skills.
3. To establish evaluation processes and measures of the effectiveness / impact of IL skills instruction in University of London Programmes.

Project team

• Benedetta Cappellini - Programme Leader, RHUL and former CODE Fellow
• David Baume - CODE Fellow

Time frame

March 2018 – January 2019.

This project is now completed.

Outputs and resources

• Notes towards possible policy and strategy on Information Literacy – D2 [PDF]
• Implementing and integrating Information Literacy in UoLW programmes - D3 [PDF]
• Information Literacy and beyond: some issues in policy and practice [PDF]
• Preparing University of London students for living and working in the world: The development of Information Literacy / Critical Information Fluency. Final Report [PDF]

About the project

We are looking at the ways in which we can enhance the delivery of key information skills in our programmes. These skills help to ensure students understand how to accessing, process and evaluate information. If you Google and find an article saying the World is flat do you have to believe it? This builds on the 2018-19 Integrating Information Literacy project. That project concluded, among things, that high levels of  critical information skills are increasingly necessary for work and further study; that current courses do not always develop these information capabilities; that there is a tension between providing students with the information they need for their current studies and developing their high-level information capabilities; and that there is a need to develop policy and good practice guidelines. The report from Part 1 of this project can be found here.

Funding

This project is funded through a grant from the University of London Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE).

Time frame

Autumn 2019 - September 2020

Project team

Dr David Baume (CODE Fellow)
Dr Sandra Tury

Outputs and resources

None yet

Feedback from disabled students on the University of London Worldwide Programmes

About the Project

This project aimed to explore three areas of the disabled student experience in the International Programmes:

1. Students’ experience of International Programmes study and their consequent retention.
2. The challenges, benefits and disadvantages of their studies compared with conventional students.
3. What factors they take into account when choosing to study - are they different from conventional students?

Principal findings

1. Disabled student experience in the International Programmes is reassuringly positive, although further research should be undertaken with dormant or dropped/withdrawn students. Further analysis should also be made of the retention of disabled students in the Programmes, especially as evidence from other institutions suggests their dropout rates may be markedly higher than for non-disabled students.
2. The challenges of students’ studies are very varied and depend on the very different disabilities experienced by students.  A number of students experience more than one disability which increases their challenge even more.  The benefits of distance education are the flexibility and ability to study from home without needing to travel.  The disadvantages are their isolation from other students and their teachers and the institution itself.  It would be helpful if UoLIP could find ways of diminishing that isolation.
3. Around 20% of disabled students state that their disability was the main factor in choosing the International Programmes.  But even for them the brand of London University and the choice of appropriate courses were still very important.

Recommendations

1. Recognition of disability by students and staff
1.1 Proactive contact.  It is important to ‘recognise’ disabled students and the problems they face more clearly, through more regular proactive contact.

1.2 Awareness raising for staff. There may be a need to raise the profile of disability in the University and help staff ‘buy into’ the needs of students, especially around the topic of exams.

2. Promotion and recruitment
There is very little reference to disability at the front end of the UoLIP website.  There should be encouragement to increase the numbers of disabled students which appear to be considerably lower in the Programmes than at the UK Open University (UKOU) and in UK higher education nationally.

3. Ongoing support
3.1 Materials - there should be disability support materials on the UoLIP website for the most common disabilities, particularly dyslexia.

3.2 Teaching support - there should be more video and audio recordings of lectures with subtitles.

3.3 Support from other students - UoLIP should look at ways of delivering more personal support to disabled students via mentors.

3.4 Support from Teaching Institutions – Disabled students have concerns about lack of support from their institutions.  There may be a case for investigating whether teaching institutions could give better support to disabled students.

3.5 Exam support – arrangements work reasonably well but there may be a case for making the criteria and procedures clearer.

3.6 Exam centres - work well on the whole but the links between UoLIP, teaching institutions and exam centres need speeding up in some cases.

3.7 The VLE - this appeared to be well-designed for most disabled students although there may be ways in which its use could be encouraged more.

3.8 Families and Friends - it might be useful to explore ways in which families and friends of students could be involved in the support of ‘their’ students.

3.9 Other forms of support - students suggested an out-of-hours phone line, lists of tutors available for private support and a specialised learning advisor for the most common learning disability, dyslexia.

Funding

This report was commissioned by the University of London Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE) on behalf the Inclusive Practice Panel of the University of London Worldwide.

Project team

Ormond Simpson - Former CODE Fellow. Author of 'Supporting Students for Success in Online and Distance Education’ (Routledge). www.ormondsimpson.com

Time frame

January - March 2018

This project is now completed

Outputs and resources

Confidential

About the project

This project aimed to examine the impact on campus-based teaching for those who had been involved in MOOC production and presentation.

We interviewed nine academics from six universities and organisations who were involved either in the production or delivery of MOOCs (as MOOC directors of production or academic leads or in learner support) through the University of London supported partnership with Coursera.

Principal findings

Involvement with MOOCs has indeed had indirect and unintended outcomes on mainstream teaching practice:

• By accelerating innovation with digital practices in both distance and campus-based programmes.
• Transferring good practice gained from participation in MOOCs to other aspects of participants’ practice, career or professional role.

Evidence of impact included:

• Supporting engagement with a wider range of learners.
• Stimulating reflection on learning, teaching and assessment practice.
• Reviewing professional priorities in learning and teaching.

Funding

The project was funded through a grant from the University of London Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE).

Project team

• Stylianos Hatzipanagos (CODE Fellow)
• Alan Tait (CODE Fellow)

Time frame

Spring 2017 – Autumn 2018

This project is now completed.

Outputs and resources

• Download: MOOCs: The Consequences For Learning and Teaching in Credit Bearing Programmes

About the project

This project set out to identify, and assess the feasibility, of approaches to mitigate against student drop out from the University of London International Programmes.  It looked at three undergraduate programmes offered to students in the UK: Laws, EMFS (LSE) and English (Goldsmiths).

Principal findings

Student retention is highly contextual and contingent on institutional and student aims, expectations and conceptions of how ‘success’ is defined.  Interventions at key annual transition points might have significant impact on retention rates and the first year of study is where potentially the biggest impact can be made on student retention.

The full project report (below) suggests a set of questions to help course teams to reflect on retention in the first year of study.

Funding

This project is funded through a grant from the University of London Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE).

Project team

Alan Tait (CODE Fellow)

Daksha Patel (CODE Fellow, LSHTM)

Pete Cannell (CODE Fellow, Consultant)

Time frame

March 2018 - February 2019 

This project is now completed.

Project Outputs

• Download: Supporting Progression and Completion Final Report

About the project

This project will explore the needs of students who are writing dissertations in their studies, and will develop an interactive study guide to support students.

Funding

This project is funded through a grant from the University of London Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE).

Project team

Dr Matt Phillpott (CODE Fellow)
Dr Clare Sansom (CODE Fellow)
Dr David Baume (CODE Fellow)
Professor Stephen Brown (CODE Fellow)

Time frame

October 2019 - September 2020. This project is completed.

Outputs and resources

Read the final report, with links to the online training modules.

About the project

The aim of this small project (five days in total) was to identify any common features across various literacies in higher education, and to see what scope there may be for learning from and with each other in support for the definition and implementation of literacies. Participants provided input on information literacy, research literacy, and careers literacy.

Funding

This project is funded through a grant from the University of London Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE).

Project team

Dr David Baume (CODE Fellow)
Dr Julie Voce (CODE Fellow)
Dr Matt Phillpott (CODE Fellow)
Dr Liz Wilkinson
Dr Sandra Tury

Time frame

October 2019 - September 2020

Outputs and resources

A presentation was made to the CDE event, Supporting Student Success, in October 2019. Participants met to share and develop ideas in December 2019. 

Baume, D., 2022. Literacies, fluencies and academic practices. Educational Developments.23.3:24-28, September 2022   ISSN 1469 - 3267

About the project

The On-Boarding project aimed to create a template for student on-boarding in under graduate and post graduate distance learning programmes administered by University of London Worldwide (UoLW). More precisely, its aims were to:

1. investigate what mechanisms are available to Distance Learning (DL) providers to entice and nurture continuing student participation in DL programmes
2. identify best practices and lessons learnt from their application so far
3. prioritise the most appropriate mechanisms of on-boarding for UoLW, short and longer term
4. create and user test a template for the application of these mechanisms within UoL Worldwide.

The template was tested within the UoLW Core Study Skills course. This course provides all students at the UoL Worldwide with an overview to study skills and acts as a more generic study guide.

Student feedback indicated that they found the core study skills course useful and engaging, they thought the template was easy to navigate and were satisfied with the quality of the content.

Students' feedback and recommendations about future improvements highlight their need for more course-specific content and support elements.

The survey findings also highlighted the need for constant monitoring and updating of the core study skills guide in order to ensure that all links and resources are accessible.

Funding

The project was funded by the CODE.

Project team

• Professor Helen Xanthaki (Principal applicant) UCL, Fellow, CODE
• Dr Anastasia Gouseti, Lecturer in Digital Education, UoHull
• Dr Alan Parkinson, Deputy Director (Education) and Principal Teaching Fellow, UCL School of Management, CODE Fellow
• Lynsie Chew, Senior Teaching Fellow and Programme Director, MSc in Professional Accountancy, UCL School of Management, CODE Fellow.

Timeframe

The project was completed on time, at the end of December 2018.

Outputs and Resources

• Download the CODE On-boarding Project report.

About the project

The aim of the project is to enhance students’ active, empowered, reflective and critical engagement with their online studies through the use of a wide range of appropriate online learning activities. This will be achieved through the production of illustrated information and guidance for module authors.

Funding

This project is funded through a grant from the University of London Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE).

Project team

Dr David Baume (CODE Fellow)

Dr Patricia McKellar (CODE Fellow)

Tinashe Mushayamunda (Student Research Fellow)

Time frame

October 2019 - September 2020

Outputs and resources

None yet. The project is analysing University of London online courses to identify learning activities in use, and relate these to  learning outcomes and to what is known about what supports learning. The work will be informed by the Student Learning Hours and Student Learning Strategies Project.The later stages of talking with programme leaders and getting feedback on a draft of the Guide has been deferred to the autumn term, due to Covid-19 impact on colleagues' priorities.    

About the project

In each of the summers of 2020 and 2021, more than 30,000 University of London students undertook over 110,000 online timed assessments, in place of conventional examinations in exam halls, because of the Covid-19 pandemic, which precluded such events. 

The University of London commissioned the then Centre for Online and Distance Education to undertake a detailed evaluation of the move to online assessment in 2020 and the evaluation was repeated in 2021. The project team was led by Linda Amrane-Cooper, with CODE Fellows Stylianos Hatzipanagos and Alan Tait and University of London colleagues James Berry, Huw Morgan-Jones, Amardeep Sanghera, Mike Sawyer. Plus in 2020 only Gwyneth Hughes (CODE) and Elsie Lauchlan (from data analysis company Shift Insight). Two CODE Student Research Fellows also formed part of the evaluation team. 

The project aimed to collect data about, and generate understanding of this transition to online assessment, primarily from the perspective of the experience of the students who have been affected, also including from the perspective of other key stakeholders (examiners, technical staff and programme directors). 

A key objective of the evaluation was that the output would help to support planning assessments for summers 2021 and 2022, both at the University and within the Member Institutions (MIs) and inform planning and preparation for 2023 and beyond. 

The project has since been converted to a longitudinal study

Funding

This project was funded through the University of London Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE). 

Project team

Dr Linda Amrane-Cooper (Director of the CODE)
James Berry (Associate Director: Student Affairs)
Professor Stylianos Hatzipanagos (CODE Fellow)
Ellen Hauff (CODE Student Fellow)
Huw Morgan-Jones (Head of Surveys and Student Voice)
Amardeep Sanghera (Student Affairs) 
Michael Sawyer (Student Services)
Hannah Dorothy Mary Shekhawat (CODE Student Fellow)
Professor Alan Tait (CODE)

Time frame

May 2020 – Ongoing

Outputs and resources

The report provides an overview of the evaluation of the online examinations in summers of 2020 and 2021.

It was important to ensure that appropriate oversight of the findings and recommendations from the evaluation informed planning and development in online timed assessments. In this respect, reports and summaries of the findings were presented at a significant number of UoL Governance committees, the Student Voice Group and Programme leader Forums throughout 2020 – 2022. 

Report 

Papers, conference presentations and webinars

2023

Amrane-Cooper, L, Hatzipanagos, S., & Tait, A. (2023) 'Silver linings: rethinking assessment pedagogy under the pandemic'  EURODL,  Volume 25 (2023) – Issue 1 (March 2023). https://eden-europe.eu/new-article-on-eurodl-silver-linings-rethinking-assessment-pedagogy-under-the-pandemic/

2022

Amrane-Cooper, L., Hatzipanagos, S., and Tait, A. (2022) ‘Measuring the impact of the move to online assessment in the University of London international programmes 2020-2022’ [Paper presentation]. Innovating Higher Education conference 2022: Digital Reset: European Universities Transforming for a Changing World. EADTU: Athens, Greece. 

Amrane-Cooper, L., Hatzipanagos, S., & Tait, A. (2022) Developing Student Behaviours that Support Academic Integrity in Distance Learning. Open Praxis, 13(4), pp.378–384. DOI: https://doi.org/10.55982/openpraxis.13.4.461

Hatzipanagos, S. and Tait, A. (2022) Designing plagiarism out of assessment. Supporting Student Success online workshop, January 28, 2022. Centre for Distance Education.

Hughes, G., Hatzipanagos, S, Amrane-Cooper, L. & Tait, A. (2022, June 22-24) Using the disruption of the pandemic to enhance assessment design in distance learning programmes [Paper presentation]. International Assessment in Higher Education Conference 2022, Manchester, UK.

2021
Amrane-Cooper, L., Hatzipanagos, S., Tait, A. (2021) Developing Student Behaviours that Support Academic Integrity in Distance Learning. ICDE, Virtual Global Conference Week, October 2021.

Amrane-Cooper, L., Hatzipanagos, S. Tait, A. (2021) Moving Assessment Online at Scale. RIDE 2021 conference, June 18, 2021, Centre for Distance Education.

Amrane-Cooper, L., Sanghera, A. (2021) Inclusive Practice: learning from our students. RIDE 2021 conference, June 18, 2021, Centre for Distance Education.

Hughes, G. Amrane-Cooper, L., Hatzipanagos, S. , Tait, A. (2021) Using the disruption of the pandemic to enhance assessment design in distance learning programmes. Academic Practice and Technology (APT) 2021 Conference, July 2021, UCL.

Tait, A., Hatzipanagos, S. (2021) What Will Assessment Look Like in 2021. Webinar in series of Experiences in Digital learning monthly webinars from CDE, Goldsmiths and the University of London Institute in Paris. February 4, 2021.

2020
Hatzipanagos, S., Tait, A., Amrane-Cooper, L. (2020) Towards A Post Covid-19 Digital Authentic Assessment Practice: When Radical Changes Enhance the Student Experience. In Enhancing the Human Experience of Learning with Technology: New challenges for research into digital, open, distance & networked education, Proceedings 2020 Research Workshop. European Distance and E-Learning Network (EDEN). 

Hatzipanagos, S. (2020) Covid-19 Silver Linings: Transition to Digital Assessment Practice to Enhance the Student Experience. Webinar, Computers and Learning Research Group – November 26, 2020. The Open University.
 

Next steps

This is an ongoing long term review of University of London online timed assessments. 

About the project

The scope of the project is to investigate practices that are not in keeping with the values of and commitment to academic integrity: i.e. collusion, plagiarism, contract cheating, impersonation and how higher education institutions through learning, teaching and assessment design can develop assessment plans that are resistant to these academic offences. It will achieve this by establishing current approaches to the management of academic integrity in online assessment and by producing a mapping of good practice and recommendations. 

Funding 

This project is funded through a grant from the University of London Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE). 

Project team 

Prof. Stylianos Hatzipanagos (CODE Fellow) 
Prof. Michele Milner (CODE Fellow) 
Prof. Alan Tait (CODE Fellow) 
Prof Steven Warburton (CODE Fellow)  
Cynthia Belen Portalewski (CODE Student Fellow) 

Time frame 

October 2022 – April 2023 

Outputs and resources 

The project has recently started and there are no outputs or resources yet in the public domain. 

About the project

Time frame 

Starting January 2023

About the project

The Knowledge Diplomacy project is a collaboration between CODE, the University of London Institute in Paris, the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence program NEXTEUK at Queen Mary University of London, working with external partners, ICR Research, the British Council Germany, British Council France, and the Goethe Institut, London.

Knowledge Diplomacy is rapidly developing as a concept that helps understand the role of a range of different actors in the generation, management and sharing of knowledge. The Knowledge Diplomacy Project aims to explore this concept more deeply as a multi-directional process by referring to the roles that actors and areas of practice - especially international higher education – but including the wider research, and innovation communities play in building and strengthening international relations and, vice versa, the role that international relations play in facilitating and improving the work of these actors.

The treatment of knowledge—most notably commodified knowledge—as a source and vector of power is increasingly recognised as a key blind spot in our understanding of the global political economy. While knowledge has always been politically, socially, and economically central to society, its relative importance has arguably changed – and increased - over the past several decades.  

In addition, the nature of modern international relations has undergone a significant change with the emergence of new actors and processes that are shaping diplomatic practices and international affairs. In this setting, international higher education has had a long history of building transnational cooperation. However, the actors engaged in international higher education and the functions they play in the present diplomatic processes are only beginning to receive attention from scholars and policymakers. 

The concept of Knowledge Diplomacy facilitates a direct focus on the place of knowledge in policies for international relations, innovation, research, and education. It recognises and includes concepts of knowledge governance and how knowledge is managed through diplomatic and other representational practices. It also reveals power relations and economic effects that are otherwise obscured, especially in relation to theories and practices informed by the idea of ‘soft power’. It also potentially acts as a unifying concept for practices currently labelled as ‘scientific’, ‘educational’, ‘cultural’, and ‘public’ diplomacy. Specifically, it clarifies the difference between knowledge and information, and the key role of the university in the era of ‘fake news’ and disinformation.

The first annual Knowledge Diplomacy conference focuses on initiating the discussion on the wider roles of higher education institutions, knowledge exchange, research and innovation in transnational cooperation and diplomacy. The conference is part of Phase 3 of the Knowledge Diplomacy Project and is led by ULIP in partnership with Centre for Online and Distance Education, Institute of Languages, Cultures and Societies, and ICR Research. The overall conference topic in 2023 is ‘Facilitating Access, Participation and Exchange of Knowledge in a Fragmented World.’  

We welcome participants, panellists, presenters from government, academia, the private sector, and civil society to join this important event. If you wish to express interest in attending, please email knowledgediplomacy@london.ac.uk. For more information see the conference page.

Knowledge Diplomacy is rapidly developing as a concept that helps understand the role of a range of different actors in the generation, management and sharing of knowledge. The Knowledge Diplomacy Project aims to explore this concept more deeply as a multi-directional process by referring to the roles that actors and areas of practice - especially international higher education – but including the wider research, and innovation communities play in building and strengthening international relations and, vice versa, the role that international relations play in facilitating and improving the work of these actors.

Phase 1 of the project explored the potential of the topic through a series of engagement events which included internal workshops and external seminars and conference discussions. 

Phase 2 of the project focused on initiating an international network of expertise, a wider audience for our public events and a body of research and resources around the Knowledge Diplomacy key themes. This phase included developing a publications strategy, further events, and the creation of a sustainable Paris-London-Berlin network of understanding and research into Knowledge Diplomacy and its relationship to the work of universities.

The current Phase 3 of the project addresses the theme of ‘Facilitating Access, Participation and Exchange of Knowledge in a Fragmented World’ and implements the network of expertise, production of Knowledge Diplomacy research, and academic publishing work and its promotion among wider audiences through an annual conference and other public engagement activities.

Funding

The Knowledge Diplomacy project is supported by the Convocation Trust, University of London Knowledge Exchange Fund, British Council in France, Goethe Institut London, and Centre for Online and Distance Education.

Project team

Dr Linda Amrane-Cooper (Director of CODE)

Dr J Simon Rofe 

Stuart MacDonald

Steering Group

• Linda Amrane-Cooper, CODE
• Tim Gore, ULIP
• Simon Rofe, SOAS
• Stuart MacDonald, ICR Research
• Katrin Sohns, Goethe Institut
• Anne Duncan, British Council, France
• Paul Smith, British Council, Germany
• Lilija Alijeva, ULIP
• Alexander Lake, ULIP

Timeline

Started June 2019, ongoing.

Outputs and resources

Links to events.

About the project 

The aim of this project is to develop a research-led ‘Introduction to Digital Humanities’ online module for postgraduates, and to design that module to promote active learning principles among postgraduate students and academics for future re-use. 

Funding 

This project is funded through a grant from the University of London Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE). 

Project team 

• Dr Christina Howell-Richardson (CODE Fellow) 
• Dr Christopher Ohge 
• Dr Naomi Wells 
• Martin Steer 
• Kunika Kono 
• Niilante Ogunsola-Ribeiro 
• Simon Parr 

Time frame 

September 2022–June 2023 

Outputs and resources 

The availability of a well-designed online module informed by flipped learning principles and driven by advanced research methods would inspire more engagement with DH research. 

The overall deliverables supported through this project include:  

Scoping and market analysis of existing online DH short courses and modules and assessment of their pedagogical principles.  

A sustainable plan to support teaching with learning technologists at SAS, the Doctoral Centre at SAS, and employed Graduate Teaching Assistants from SAS PhD programmes.  

With SAS DHRH staff and learning technologists, develop research-led units of an Intro to DH and offer two online, interactive, blended, 10-unit Intro to DH modules in 2023 (with approximately 50 students). 

About the project

The research aims to explore how far existing non-environmental programmed at UoL and partners are changing the curriculum (or would like to change it) in response to the climate crisis, not only by building in sustainability to the programme design, but also through changing the content of programmes and engaging students in discipline relevant discussion. 

Funding 

This project is funded through a grant from the University of London Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE). 

Project team 

• Dr Gwyneth Hughes (CODE Fellow)  
• Dr Daksha Patel (CODE Fellow) 
• Dr Pete Cannell (CODE Fellow)   

Time frame 

October 2022 - September 2023 

Outputs and resources 

The project outputs and report will be presented at RIDE and other conferences in 2023. 

About the project

It has long been agreed that retention in online courses requires online interaction. The UoL PgCert. Learning and Teaching in Higher Education was designed to maximise student engagement online to support retention and to model good practice to these participants many of whom will be online tutors and/or designers of distance learning. The initial module Supporting, Learning, Teaching and Assessment, was designed to support both peer engagement and reflection on learning. In the module, learners are prompted to write about their current teaching practice and ways in which they can develop their practice in a reflective journal which they complete throughout the module. The final summative assessment – a portfolio of development and achievement in teaching theory and practice - explicitly rewards awareness of personal learning gain by including the ipsative (learning gain) marking criterion. This research project aimed to answer two questions about this module:

1.What is the relationship between the quality of engagement with online learning tools throughout the module and a) final overall attainment, b) attainment in relation to personal learning gain?
2.How far does giving feedback to and receiving feedback from peers influence attainment in the two assessments?

Principal findings:

1. Engagement with the discussion forum on learning content is not a very good predictor of completion and success, except that unsurprisingly no engagement or at all predicts non-completion.
2. Engagement in peer review, and especially giving feedback to peers, is a good predictor of success. Students who engaged moderately or well in the peer review were successful despite low discussion forum posting. However, early drop out from peer review led to incomplete submission of assessments.
3. Different learners might use different tools for success, for example, either posting in the discussion forum or engagement in peer review. Spending time on task in either the forum or the peer review (or both) was linked to high or moderate performance.

This study suggests a number of avenues for tutor development in online learning to encourage retention of professional learners that might also apply to other distance learning programmes.

• Include a variety of online tools especially peer review activities that are time bound and well organised. This will encourage different learners to spend time on task.
• Reflection is cumulative and builds. Look for sustained engagement/disengagement beyond the first few sessions to predict success and warn for non-completion/failure.
• Design assessment that includes criteria for developmental progress as well as outcomes criteria. Such assessment needs to be supported by peer review and early tutor feedback to develop student self-regulation.

Funding

The project was funded by the CODE alongside other projects on progression and completion in distance learning.

Project team

• Gwyneth Hughes, CODE Fellow, UCL Institute of Education, UCL

In consultation with members of the learning support team from University of London Worldwide.

Time frame

The project ran from April to October 2018.

This project is now completed.

Outputs and resources

The findings were presented at the Supporting Student Success conference run by the CODE in October 2018 and at a seminar for the University College of Estate Management, Reading in January 2019.

See the Final Report for full details of the project rationale, approach and results.

Impact of Track C on the student experience-Engagement with online tools

About the Project

This project aimed to investigate the impact of the teaching, learning and assessment framework (Track C) applied to the MSc in Professional Accountancy (MPACC course), to establish early signals of impact on student retention and inform potential further developments.

A study focusing specifically on students’ engagement with online tools was undertaken, with data collected via a questionnaire survey to MPACC students and individual semi-structured interviews to a subset of the respondents.

The second part of the study looked at user data, as a means of investigating how the students used the online tools and the extent to which these tools enhance or support their learning and performance.

Principal findings:

• Most users have prior knowledge of using a VLE, and therefore a certain level of expectation of usability.
• There is variability in the way students use the online tools and this is influenced by factors such as time available, prior experience in using online tools and the extent to which they understand and value the tools.
• Users have clear ideas on what would improve their experience of using online tools; for example, tools with features that allow some form of feedback.
• Data systems need to be designed to allow for links between different data sources, so that a coherent digital picture of users can be captured.
• Some direct correlation is evident between user and performance data.

Funding

The project was funded through a grant from the University of London Centre for On line and Distance Education (CODE).

Project team

• Jon Gregson, SOAS, Centre for Development Environment and Policy (CODE Fellow)
• Christine Thuranira-McKeever, RVC (Project Lead, CDE Fellow)

Time frame

July 2017 to February 2018.

This project is now completed.

Outputs and resources

• Download: Impact of Track C on the Student Experience report.

Key words

Student experience, online tools, student retention, student performance, learning analytics.

About the project

As the title 'Student Learning Hours and Learning Strategies' suggests, the aim is to investigate how students engage with different types of UoLW content and learning activities, both solo and collaborative, with the overarching goal of enhancing programme design and operation to maximise opportunities for student success. Specifically it addresses three research questions:

RQ1. How do student study hours and study patterns compare with programme team expectations?
RQ2. How and why do students engage with different types of content and learning activity?
RQ3. What role does peer interaction play in student learning?

Data collection methods were:

1. Online survey across a range of programmes and subject types
2. Learning Diaries completed by volunteer students
3. Remote interviews of volunteer students (via videoconference)

Funding

This project is funded through a grant from the University of London Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE).

Project team

Professor Stephen Brown (CODE Fellow)

Dr David Baume (CODE Fellow)

Janet Wong (Student Research Fellow)

Naraesa Francis (Student Research Fellow)

Time frame

October 2019 - September 2020. This project is now completed.

Outputs and resources

The study generated a number of interim reports covering all four programmes in the study:
1.Student study hours
2.Student responses to study guidance
3.Student responses to learning activities and resources
4.Student study strategies and learning behaviour
 

The findings from the interim reports are drawn together and discussed in the final report.

Additionally there is a journal publication:

Brown, S. and Baume, D. 2022. ‘Not another group activity!’: Student attitudes to individual and collaborative learning activities, and some implications for distance learning course design and operation. Innovations in Education and Teaching International. https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2022.2062424

Download an ePrint version

Summary of findings:

1. Students often find the amount of material to be studied is more than they expected. For many, the amount of time it takes to work through the material is a significant challenge in the face of other demands on their time. 
2. Study behaviours revealed by the learning diaries vary considerably from quite weak to very strong. Weaker study patterns focus in not very organised ways on reading and memorising content.  Stronger patterns display greater awareness of requirements, personal progress, planning, strategic allocation of resources and personal knowledge construction. 
3. Overall, we see here a strong preference for learning content over learning activities, particularly collaborative activities.
4. The four programmes covered by this study are satisfactory, or more than satisfactory, for students who are experienced, sophisticated, learners. 
5. Less mature learners may need more help to engage them more actively and strategically in the process of learning and in a learning community. 

The report suggests a number of issues for consideration by programme teams.

About the project

This programme, run by the CODE, trains university teaching staff across the Globe. We are exploring the ways in which the programme is helping teaching staff to improve their teaching practice and positively impact their students.

Funding

This project is funded through a grant from the University of London Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE).

Project team

Dr Gwyneth Hughes (CODE Fellow)
Professor Ayona Silva-Fletcher (CODE Fellow)
Dr David Baume (CODE Fellow)
Dr Simon Rofe (CODE Fellow)
Dr Linda Amrane-Cooper (CODE Director)

Time frame

October 2019 - July 2021

Outputs and resources

Hughes, G. et al. (2023) Developing as a teacher: changing conceptions of teaching and the challenges of applying theory to practice Teaching in Higher Education.

Considerable progress with the phase 2 PGC LTHE project was made prior to Covid-19, which included a detailed analysis of evidence for impact of the programme on practitioner’s concepts, planning and practice in relation to learning, teaching and assessment. A presentation of the work was made to RIDE 2020 and a paper was presented online the Academic Practice and Technology Conference (APT2020).  A journal article has been submitted to Teaching in Higher Education.

A pause of activity resulted from the pandemic and re-engagement with the project will commence in June. Further analysis of participant assignments is required and a refinement of the framework for analysis is being considered. 

In the sample reviewed, all participants shifted their conceptions of teaching and learning away from a teacher focus to an active learner focus – even one participant who did not pass. Some showed that they were starting to view learning as self-directed. Some were beginning to change their practice. Clear links between the online module readings and peer review activities and the changes indicate that the module has a positive impact on conceptions of teaching in the short term. Further studies will explore if the programme triggers changes in teachers’ practice in the longer term. However, putting new conceptions of teaching into practice was found to be problematic for many students especially those who did not have control over their curriculum and assessments. Others may need time to implement new ideas in the next academic year after the course is completed.

About the project

This project aimed:

1. To ascertain the potential for e-learning to enhance careers services provided by The Careers Group (TCG).
2. To develop a plan to enable the Careers Group to develop effective e-learning for students.
3. To explore the possibility of sharing student e-learning resources among members of the TCG.

The Careers Group is a department of the University of London which operates as a mutually-beneficial membership organisation for 16 institutionally-based careers services, with a small central support team. The majority of member services are within the University of London federation.

This study was carried out employing a combination of interviews, focus groups, desktop research and Delphi-style co-development of the findings in partnership with TCG colleagues.

Principal findings:

• More careers and employability guidance needs to be available on demand at any time and accessible by students, careers staff and faculty academics online and via mobile platforms
• e-learning is the only viable option
• e-learning activities need to go beyond information delivery to include practical skills development
• activities need measurable learning outcomes and built-in assessments that enable learners to measure their own learning gains
• most TCG staff lack sufficient technical and pedagogical skill to develop and deliver e-learning.

Recommendations

1. Develop or acquire e-learning packages on core careers topics that all sites can share.
2. Design new packages collaboratively.
3. Store new designs in platform agnostic formats.
4. Localise designs in collaboration with local Ed Tech development units to exploit local platforms.
5. Train TCG staff in e-learning design.
6. Use workshops to design new e-learning courses and build new cross-College teams as well as for skill development.

Funding

The project was funded through a grant from the University of London Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE) on behalf the University of London Careers Group.

Project team

• Prof Stephen Brown - Emeritus Professor De Montfort University (CODE Fellow)
• Dr Endrit Kromidha - Lecturer in Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Royal Holloway University of London (former CODE Fellow)
• Julie Voce - Head of Educational Technology, City, University of London (CODE Fellow)

Time frame

January 2018 – April 2018

This project is now completed.

Outputs and resources

• Download: The Careers Group e-Learning Developments report.

A series of e-learning training workshops was subsequently developed and delivered to TCG staff covering learning outcomes, assessment, learning activity design, media selection and learner support.

About the project

CODE has considerably expanded the number of Fellows, and the range and complexity of its work. The aim of this project is to help CODE systems, internal communications, processes and documentation to provide maximally efficient support. 

Funding

This project is funded through a grant from the University of London Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE). 

Project team

Dr David Baume (CODE Fellow)
Stuart MacDonald FRSA (CODE Fellow and Director of ICR Research)

Time frame

October 2022 - March 2023

Outputs and resources

Briefing on CODE internal communications, processes and documentation.

About the project

This Student Research Fellowship is an initiative whereby University of London distance learning students are given the opportunity to gain transferable skills through collaborating with CODE Fellows on current projects funded by the Centre. Typical topics include:

• Educational research
• Development of student support material
• Project or resource evaluation
• Focus group and other data gathering activities.

There is an opportunity for CODE to conduct research on the benefits and impact of this initiative on the experiences of the students involved in the project. The aim of this project (five days in total) is to explore the extent in which CODE can develop ‘student researchers’ at a distance by involving them and collaborating with CODE Fellows on projects by which students themselves negotiate the kinds of research skills they wish to gain from thein involvement.   In this project, student researchers as participants will be invited to develop a brief portfolio which will have details of their reflective accounts during each of activities they undertake (3 expected sessions with the CODE Fellows) in their student fellowship. They will also answer a brief questionnaire and will be interviewed about their experiences. 

Funding

This project is funded through a grant from the University of London Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE).

Project team

Dr Jonathan San Diego (CODE Fellow)
Dr Ashley Cox (CODE Fellow)
Dr Linda Amrane-Cooper (Director of CODE)
Huw Morgan Jones (UoL)
Amardeep Sanghera (UoL)
Hazel Stevenson (CODE Student Research Fellow)

Time frame

October 2022 - September 2023

Outputs and resources

A report about the project will be published on the website. The result of the research will be published in an education journal.

About the project

The project originally aimed to:

• Review guidance on assessment for learning available to UoL programme teams
• Identify recent (past 3 years) assessment innovation in 5 -10 UoL online programmes that move towards assessment for learning and not only assessment as judgement of achievement
• Evaluate the potential of the innovation to improve student learning, achievement and retention
• Disseminate assessment innovation to other programme teams at UoL and make recommendations for assessment enhancement strategies.

When the pivot to online teaching took place in 2020 in response to the pandemic, we adapted the study to explore programme teams’ responses to the shift to online exams and any evidence for  shifts in views on assessment. The findings indicated that there were some changes in thinking about the purposes of assessment and changes such as use of open book exams and removing recall questions from the exam and more consideration of coursework. While some programme directors wished to return to in-person exams when possible, others were interested in continuing with online exams and innovation. The project raises questions about the investment in distance learning assessment and the need to design out plagiarism.

Funding

This project is funded through a  2019/2020 Teaching and Research Award from the University of London Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE).

Project team

Alan Tait (CODE Fellow)

Gwyneth Hughes (CODE Fellow)

Time frame

February 2020 - February 2021. This project is completed.

Outputs and Resources

Read the project blog

Download the project final report.

About the project

This ongoing project reflects the strategic partnership between CODE and The Open University of China. With over 4.8 million students, OUC is the largest single provider of higher education in China, employing a blend of face-to-face and online/distance learning. CODE supports OUC in developing staff capability in teaching online, collaborative research and welcomes OUC visiting scholars to London for placement in the Centre.

Funding

This project was funded through the University of London Centre for Distance Education (now CODE), The Open University of China and the Sino-British Fellowship Trust.

Project team

Dr Linda Amrane-Cooper (Director of CODE)
Dr David Baume (CODE Fellow)
Professor Stephen Brown (CODE Fellow)
Professor Stylianos Hatzipanagos (CODE Fellow)
Dr Gwyneth Hughes (CODE Fellow)
Professor Alan Parkinson (CODE Fellow)
Dr Matthew Phillpott (CODE Fellow)
Dr Christina Howell-Richardson (CODE Fellow)
Professor Alan Tait (CODE Fellow)

Time frame

2018 - to date

Outputs and resources

Staff development 

2022-23

The ‘Designing for learning in online and distance education’ course for The Open University of China has been adapted to support the professional development of 100 OUC teachers and is split into three units for 2022/23:

UNIT 1: Fundamentals of course design     26 September 2022 – 25 November 2022

UNIT 2: Teaching and learning                     5 December 2022 – 17 March 2023

UNIT 3: Assessment and feedback             17 April 2023 – 9 June 2023         

The adjusted format from September 2022 to June 2023, supports the 100 OUC participants to engage sustained application of the learning on the short course to their practice.

Our partner tutors at The  Open University of China work with groups of 10 participants, with a synchronous meeting in each topic. This provides an opportunity to build and consolidate the learning supported through the virtual learning environment.  Cluster tutorials also take place in each Topic, ensuring that participants, OUC tutors and CODE Fellows actively co-create the learning and build in both subject disciplinary and cultural expectations.

Download the staff development short course evaluation report for 2022-23

2021-22

‘Designing for learning in online and distance education’ was a bespoke short course run by the Centre for Distance Education between September 2021 and January 2022 for 250 new and experienced tutors at the Open University of China. It was delivered and supported entirely online, in partnership with local tutors in China. Some materials were specially written by CODE for the course; others were adapted from the University of London Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education. CODE staff ran bi-weekly webinars for course participants, and weekly webinars for lead tutors from the Open University of China. Each OU China lead tutor worked with a group of about 20 OU China tutors.

The course topics were: Contexts, and the student week; programme and module design; using what we know about students learning and theories of learning; structuring learning; designing learning activities for individual students; designing collaborative activities and assessments; tutor feedback, and midcourse review; locating resources to support learning, and student information capabilities; Technology to enhance learning; assessment; tutor roles, tutor development, and developing as a tutor; and program monitoring, evaluation and improvement. Digital badges were awarded for the successful completion of defined parts of the course. Participants who successfully complete the course, and write a reflective commentary on what they have learned and how they will apply this to their practice, can apply to be granted accreditation of prior learning into the second and final module of the University of London PGCertHE.

This was a bilingual short course, with participants working in both English and Chinese and our work was reported at the 2022 CODE RIDE conference.

Download the staff development short course evaluation report for 2021-22

Scholarly collaboration

CODE Fellow Alan Tait has contributed a chapter to ‘Beyond Distance Education, cutting edge perspectives on the future of open universities’ published by The Open University of China. The book is made up of 16 chapters from open university leaders around the world, including Asia, North America, Africa, the Arab Region, Australia and Europe, with in addition a Foreword and Summary by the President of OUC Dr Jing Degang. A number of the chapters deal with the impact of the COVID pandemic on the practice of the open university and on higher education more widely in the country, and in addition reflect on the achievements and challenges of the open university model now more than 50 years old. Professor Alan Tait has contributed a chapter on the Open University U.K., which includes an account of the contribution the University of London external programme made to the original institutional model. 

Visiting Scholars

The Open university of China visiting scholars 2024 

Visiting scholars will be based at the Centre for Online and Distance Education from February to June 2024. 

UoL’s CODE is supporting a five-year programme of visiting scholars from OUC, funded by the Sino-British Fellowship Trust (SBFT).

The Open university of China visiting scholars 2023

Read about the 2023 visiting scholars.

Download the 2023 visiting scholars report. 

In 2020 – 2022 our Visiting Scholars provision was suspended due to Covid.

CODE hosted two OUC Visiting Scholars in 2019/20 – sponsored by SBFT, in partnership with the China Scholarship Council.  Luo Xiabao (Carol), and Fengwei Cai, were from Gansu and Ningbo Radio and TV Universities respectively, both Branches of OU China. Carol’s project concerned the use of social media by students in selected University of London programmes, while Fengwei focused on strategies that support independent learning. For four months Carol and Fengwei were supported by a team of CODE Fellows, led by the Head of the CODE, Dr Linda Amrane-Cooper, CODE Fellows Simon Rofe and Alan Tait and supported by our the wider CODE Fellows. Carol and Fengwei have gone on to be two of the tutors supporting to short course. 

UoL hosted an event for all of the OU China visiting scholars from across the UK in January 2020. Visiting scholars from Open University UK, and University of Leeds joined the UoL Visiting Scholars at a reception and presented their projects to an audience including the sponsors, Sino-British Fellowship Trust.

About the project

The aim of this project is to provide guidance and support for the development of Open and Distance Learning (ODL) in Nigeria in collaboration with the National Universities Commission, Nigeria. The ongoing programme of activity comprises a series of bespoke workshops and annual symposia for senior university management and staff in Nigeria and London. This project supports a joint memorandum of understanding established between the University of London and the Nigerian National Universities Commission.

Funding

This project is funded by the University of London and the National Universities Commission, Nigeria.

Project team

Dr Linda Amrane-Cooper (Director of CODE)
Dr David Baume (CODE Fellow)
Professor Stephen Brown  (CODE Fellow)
Dr Ibrahim ElMayet (Regional Business Development Manager, University of London Worldwide)
Dr Akanimo Odon (Africa adviser)
Peter O’Hara, Business Development Manager Africa and Middle East
Mike Winter OBE (Director International Affairs, University of London) 

Time frame

2017 – to date

Outputs and resources

Abuja 2017 Symposium 
Abuja 2018 Workshop

• Workshop blog
• Workshop workbook 'Making ODL Happen' (warning: large file, 2094 KB)

London 2018 workshop 
Abuja 2019 symposium 
London workshop 2019 
London workshop 2020

RIDE 2020 conference 

• Artificial Intelligence in Open Distance Education. Abiodun Musa Aibinu (Federal University of Technology, Minna, Nigeria)
• Distance Education: Its Changing Ecosystem and Emerging Narratives in Nigeria. Amos O. Aremu (University of Ibadan, Nigeria)
• Student Entrepreneurship at a Distance: The Experience of National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN). Juliet O Inegbedion (National Open University of Nigeria) 
• Decolonizing the Curriculum: A recent experience from Open and Distance Learning Institutions in Nigeria. Folashade Afolabi, (University of Lagos, Nigeria)

Online symposium 2021 
RIDE 2021 conference

2022/23

We are delighted that after a pause in visits to London during the height of the pandemic, colleagues from Nigeria’s National University Commission and Universities in Nigeria were able to return to London in 2022-23. Joining our summer 2022 RIDE conference, the NUC team and UOL colleagues identified a further programme of support for Universities in Nigeria seeking to develop their Open and Distance Learning offer.

A three-day workshop programme on 'Developing strategy, policies, and quality assurance structures for Open and Distance Learning (ODL) centres', took place in London on 21, 22 and 24 March 2023. It brought together more than 30 contributors from the UoL Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE), the Careers Group, UoL Worldwide and UoL Member Institutions with 46 registered participants from Nigeria, including the Nigerian National Universities Commission. The interactive nature of the sessions provided opportunities to explore the local context, discuss specific issues that Nigerian HEIs face and consider their ODL priorities moving forward. 

Additionally, the 5th joint UoL-NUC symposium took place on 23 March, 2023 focusing on Policy and practice in open and distance learning. The event was hybrid face-to-face/online, between London and Abuja, bringing together the Nigerian participants in London for the 3-day workshop, with a further 67 participants from 24 HEIs in Nigeria, with speakers from the UK and Nigeria.

For full details of the workshop and symposium see the March 2023 Activity Report. 

About the project

The aim of this project was to assist colleagues in Palestinian universities to enhance their capacity and capability for developing, delivering and supporting effective online teaching, learning and assessment.  An intensive online programme of  synchronous and asynchronous learning activities and seminars was delivered to around 30 participants over 4 weeks. Participants were expected to spend about seven hours a week, across the four weeks. Key features of the approach were: 

1. Early and continuing consultation with stakeholder/client groups and universities to clarify the details of the content and the educational and technical approach, building on the expertise of CDE colleagues in undertaking such work in many parts of the world.
2. The training and development processes explicitly built on the current capabilities and expertise of participants in the programme and encouraged participants to make maximum appropriate use of current, including locally produced, educational materials, resources and processes, including high-quality open educational resources.
3. Elements of current University of London courses, including the Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education and a variety of other subjects to reflect client needs, were used to illustrate educational approaches and methods.
4. In enhancing faculty and administrator’s confidence in online teaching pedagogy the emphasis was on supporting the development of a common pedagogy, which can be deployed online, in-person and in combinations of these two. 

The majority of the training was undertaken with course teams who were working together to lead, develop and implement. This was ‘on-the-job’ practice-based training and development. The training and development process used was to exemplify/demonstrate the training and development methods being taught, including theory-informed pedagogy; outcomes-based course design, learning and assessment; resource-based learning; active learning and collaborative learning. Participating Universities were encouraged to include staff and educational development colleagues in the programme teams, to maximize the scope for cascade training and development, and hence to boost the overall efficiency and longer-term impact of the process. The materials and methods used to provide the training were provided under a Creative Commons license, to encourage local adaptation and further use. 

A University of London certificate of completion was available for participants in our CPD. 

Funding

This project was funded jointly by the University of London Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE) and the Friends of Birzeit University (FoBZU) organisation, Palestine.

Project team
Dr Linda Amrane-Cooper (Director of CODE)
Dr David Baume (CODE Fellow)
Professor Stephen Brown  (CODE Fellow)
Professor Stylianos Hatzipanagos (CODE Fellow)
Dr Matt Philpott (CODE Fellow)
Professor Alan Tait (CODE Fellow)
Omar Shweiki, Director, Friends of Birzeit University

Time frame

8-23 March 2021

Outcomes

Birzeit  University: Cascade to 15-20 junior lecturers based across the faculties. One workshop held during the second week of September 2021 covering key lessons learnt from the CODE training.  
 
An-Najah University: Cascade to 80-100 junior staff and teachers. Summer training running June-August 2021 consisting of 4 modules to be implemented over a 3-month period using the hands-on approach. Part of a university-wide curriculum review initiated by project participants. 
 
Bethlehem University: Cascade to minimum of 20 lecturers from the Faculty of Arts and Education during the summer semester before the start of the new academic year. Aim to establish a regular programme at the Instructional Technology Unit (ITU) to commence during the upcoming Fall semester. 
 
Al-Azhar University: One workshop held in April 2021 attended by 23 members of the Faculty of Arts and Human Sciences. A further session planned in August 2021 for deans of faculties and heads of departments, followed by a workshop for each of faculty at the university.

About the project 

Capacity building for training the paediatric and child health workforce in Africa.

Across sub–Saharan Africa, 42% of the total population is younger than 15 years. Changing demographics and a growing population in Africa means that an additional 4.2 million health workers are required to meet the WHO minimum standards by 2030. Presently, Sub-Saharan Africa has a high burden of paediatric mortality and morbidity and the lowest paediatrician density of 0.8 paediatricians for 100,000 children compared to the global median of 32 paediatricians per 100,000 children. Annually only 5 new paediatricians are anticipated to enter the workforce compared to 60 new paediatricians per 100,000 children in high income countries. To address this major training capacity gap, the East, Central and South African College of Paediatrics and Child health (ECSAPACH), has initiated an innovative multi-country blended training programme in collaboration with University of London’s Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE).  Delivery of the ECSAPACH Curriculum would be anchored on two main pillars – face-to-face learning and online & distance learning, to provide an equitable opportunity and exposure to learning resources within the geographically dispersed training sites in multiple countries.
 
Under the terms of the MoU, leading child health specialists and clinical educators from six African states will benefit from sharing knowledge with each other, and with education experts at CODE, to support the development, design and delivery of a blended Masters level programme, that provides accredited learning across the different countries. 

There will be several phases to the project, which is aimed at supporting the development of high quality and appropriately contextualised blended learning provision for medical staff across the region. CODE will support ECSAPACH through a range of activities including:   

• Facilitated discussions; To define operational decisions and implications for establishing strategic infrastructure.  
• A three-day workshop in London; To collaborate approaches for the delivery of the core curriculum. 
• Engagement with needs analysis and capacity building for online training for the local faculty
• An online staff development and capacity building course aimed at the faculty and blended format.   
• The medical training course will launch in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Botswana and Zimbabwe and it is anticipated that other member states will join in due course. 
   

Read about the project 

Funding 

This project is funded by ECSAPACH 

Project team 

Dr Linda Amrane-Cooper 

Dr Daksha Patel  

Dr Oscar Mwaanga 

Dr Anita Skinner 

Dr Clare Sansom 

Dr Michele Milner 

Dr Matt Phillpott

Dr Liz Wilkinson

Dr Sandra Tury 

Time frame 

September 2023 - August 2024

About the project 

The Centro Universitario de Tlajomulco (CUTlajomulco) of the University of Guadalajara, Mexico is in the process of transforming its face-to-face courses into a blended/hybrid delivery mode. To support them in this transformation, CODE is working with colleagues at the University of Guadalajara by providing an online professional development course, presented over 12 topics, and divided into 3 units. The course is designed specifically to support the re-development of courses into a blended format for delivery from January 2024. In addition, CODE will be supporting Universitario de Tlajomulco with its delivery and evaluation of the blended/hybrid courses in 2024.  

The professional development course entails 8-10 hours of study per topic, encouraging both theoretical and practical learning, with a focus on the practical development of their courses in real-time.  

Unit 1 – Structure and Analysis, including topics on course analysis, learning outcomes, theories of learning, and designing using the ABC Design model. 

Unit 2 – Designing Learning, focusing on a deeper development of the design through consideration of ‘the blend’, using technology, and individual and collaborative learning techniques.  

Unit 3 – Supporting Learning, where the design is finalised and developed with consideration of feedback, assessment, and programme monitoring and evaluation.  

Funding 

This project was funded by the Centro Universitario de Tlajomulco.  

Project team 

Dr Linda Amrane-Cooper (Director of CODE)

Professor Stephen Brown (CODE Fellow)

Professor Stylianos Hatzipanagos (CODE Fellow)

Dr Matthew Phillpott (CODE Fellow)

Dr Christina Howell-Richardson (CODE Fellow)

Dr J. Simon Rofe (Deputy Director of CODE) 

The course is also supported by other CODE Fellows on specific topics: Leo Havemann, Professor Lynsie Chew, Dr Alexandra Mihai, plus Helen Xanthaki and Huw Morgan Jones.  

Time frame 

June 2023 – June 2024