This document summarizes Robin Trangmar's keynote presentation on practical learning in a digital world. The presentation explored three main themes: 1) sharing innovative teaching practices, 2) developing knowledge through hands-on experience, and 3) scholarly activity in higher and further education. It discussed challenges in higher education like reduced funding and increased online learning, and emphasized the importance of communities of practice, collaboration, and evidence-based innovations to teaching.

1. Robin Trangmar
@yrathro #pldwrt
Practical Learning in a
Digital World
Keynote: RSC Yorkshire and
Humberside symposium
March 2012
Credit: http://blog.appneta.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/networking-cables.jpg

2. Symposium themes
1. Exploring and sharing innovative practice
2. Developing knowledge through hands-on practice
3. Scholarly activity in the HE, and HE in FE community

3. Landscape
 Increased student fees
 Reducing government funding
 Pressure to reduce contact time
 Communities of practitioners who increasingly share
resources
 Increased [free] access to open source resources
 Free certificated University courses
 Someone’s idea that online learning is the answer to
everything, and that it can be done ‘just like that …’

4. Theme 1: Exploring and
sharing innovative practice

5. What is innovation?
 “… we mean the sort of transformative
innovation that challenges our
assumptions about how we do things. We
mean developing creative approaches to
problems, by asking questions about the
status quo, about accepted practice and
about the prevailing ‘logic’ that
permeates the system.”
(Sutch et al. (2008) p5)

6. Innovation …
 ... in teaching is most likely to take place when:
 the innovator feels a degree of security
within an understood community or
cultural context, recognises the need for
change and has encouragement or support
from the head of department, dean or other
person in authority
(Hannan & Silver, 2002; 3)

7. Innovation …
 … is most likely to be obstructed by:
 low esteem of teaching and learning, compared with
research;
 lack of recognition and interest by colleagues and people
in authority;
 quality assessment procedures or other procedures that
inhibit risk-taking.
(Hannan & Silver, 2002; 3)
 Remember that
 institutions are generally change-averse
 ‘the speed of change in HEIs is glacial’

8. Research or Teaching?
 Simplistically …
 Research – brings in most of the cash for HEIs
 Teaching – brings in the cash for FEIs
 Many HEIs and FEIs have teams aimed at
improving the quality of learning, teaching and
assessment

9. Research into Teaching
 There is a need for continued research into learning, teaching
and assessment
 Sound learning, teaching and assessment structures are
fundamental
 We need to invest more in evidence-based practice
 Teaching needs to embrace surface, deep and concept
learning
 Is the focus on input, process or outcomes?
 Are we merely justifying established practice?
 Do the benefits of technology appear early enough in our
learning and teaching strategies?

11. Rethinking Learning
in the Digital Age
 Rethinking how people learn
 Rethinking what people learn
 Rethinking where and when people learn
(Resnick, M., 2002)
… and rethinking how we work as educators

12. preparation
marking
policies
funding
admin
admin
admin
research
publication
Sometimes it feels like a never-ending expedition …
Credit: Rune Gjeldnes http://www.extreme-planet.com/exp/seal/newsarchive.asp

13.  Here is Edward Bear, coming
downstairs
now, bump, bump, bump, on the
back of his head, behind
Christopher Robin.
It is, as far as he knows, the only
way of coming downstairs, but
sometimes he feels there
really is another way, if only
he could stop bumping for a
moment and think of it.
(A.A. Milne 1926; 15)
Source: Milne, A.A., 1926 The World of Pooh. London; Methuen.
Image: Pete Rollins http://peterrollins.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/pooh_stairs.jpeg

14. Theme 2: Developing
knowledge through hands-
on practice

15. Innovation is important … but …
 There has to be an impact on learning, teaching and
assessment
 That impact has to be realised through practice
 Practice often needs
 The ability to take risks
 The support to take risks
 The time to do so
 A consideration of the ethical issues of taking those risks

16. Importance of collaboration
 Public (shared knowledge) is more important than
private knowledge
 Communities of practice
 Personal learning networks (PLNs)
 Professional learning communities (PLCs) (the phrase
used in schools in Wales)
 #teachmeets
 The use of social networks
 to ‘glue’ these communities of practice together
 to support our own practice through crowd sourcing

17. Credit: Stephen Arbib
http://www.shalomlife.com/news/14471/are-tyrants-afraid-of-twitter/

18. Theme 3: Scholarly Activity in
the HE, and HE in FE
community

19. Credit: http://forgiveandoverlook.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/footsteps.jpg

20. Scholarship and Scholarly Activity
 We need to be ‘fit for purpose’
 Research active, or research aware
 Recent, evidence based, and research led
 Impact studies should guide our strategies, and be an
outcome of our activities
 Engage in small scale practitioner research
 The academic profile of the HE in FE practitioner needs
developing
 Research, practice, publish

21. Subject – specific
Credit: David Vignoni Nuvola Images http://www.icon-king.com/projects/nuvola/
knowledge Pedagogical skills
Learning
Technology
The Three
Tyrannies

22. Things to do …
 Present at a conference
 Academic paper
 Enter a Poster
 Lead a Workshop
 Not got a conference?
 Organise one
 Hassle your HE Manager to present papers / posters at the
2012 HE Conference …
 Small scale stuff is interesting and useful
 Be cheeky …

23. EC&I 831

24. Credibility
 Trangmar, R., (2012) Keynote: Practical Learning in a Digital
World. Presented at the JISC - RSC Yorkshire and Humberside
symposium. Beverley.
 Trangmar, R., (2011) Using Crowdsourcing and Social learning
Networks in Teacher Education. Presented at the FE in HE
Conference, University of Wales, Newport. Newport.
 Trangmar, R., (2011) Improving Practice Through Scholarship.
Presented at the Annual HE Conference. Colwyn Bay

25. Higher Education Academy
 Don’t spend all your time working IN the business;
Allow time for working ON the business
 YOU are the business
 Customers buy your skills and knowledge
 You need a benchmark that they can measure you against
 HEIs will increasingly use HEA membership as a quality
marker
 Apply for HEA professional recognition
 Associate Fellow
 Fellow

26. So what?
 There is no point in addressing any of these three
themes unless there are two principles at the heart of
what we are doing:
 The quality of learning, teaching and assessment
 The development of the learner’s knowledge, skills
attitudes and behaviour

27. "Not simply dream, but
dream extravagantly;
see possibilities not
problems.
Seek an image of
perfection to which we
can aspire"
(Sir Ernest Hall,
Brathay 1996)
Credit: Charles Drakew; Wikimedia Commons http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dean_Clough_Mills_10.JPG

28. Contact details
 Robin Trangmar FHEA, FIfL, FRGS, M.Ed., CharteredMCIPD
@yrathro
http://yrathro.wordpress.com
 Head of Education and Training, Coleg Llandrillo
Cymru, Colwyn Bay LL28 4HZ
 01492-546666 x427
 r.trangmar@llandrillo.ac.uk

29. References
 Hannan, A., & Silver, H., 2002. Innovative forms of
enhancement in Teaching and Learning. Plymouth;
LSTN.
 Milne, A. A., 1926. The World of Pooh. London;
Methuen.
 Resnick, M., 2002. Rethinking Learning in the Digital Age.
MIT [online - available at
http://llk.media.mit.edu/papers/mres-wef.pdf]
 Sutch, D, Rudd, T, and Facer, K., 2008. Promoting
Transformative Innovation. Slough; Futurelab.