Advancing Cultures of Innovation in Higher Education
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Advancing Cultures of Innovation in Higher Education Culture is the set of behaviors, values, artifacts, reward systems, and rituals that make up your organization. You can “feel” culture when you visit a place, because it is often evident in people’s behavior, enthusiasm, and the space itself. Culture in higher education is driven by leadership but that leadership comes from many sources depending on the structure and politics of the institution. Over 100 years ago Pragmatist educator John Dewey challenged the traditional role of the student as a passive recipient of knowledge. He outlined an approach to experiential education that forms the basis for several modern pedagogical approaches including Problem Based Learning. More recently, in the 1990’s Harvard Physics professor Eric Mazur developed Peer Instruction, a flipped classroom pedagogy which can be applied across virtually any subject with limited technological requirements. In the 1980’s Rolf Faste, director of Stanford’s Joint Program in Design described Design Thinking as “a formal method for practical, creative resolution of problems or issues, with the intent of an improved future result.” In other words, Design Thinking is a way to find innovation that can be practically applied to challenges of today. Despite this long history, innovative teaching methods are the exception to the culture of most universities around the world. Due to evolution in consumer mobile technology, we now expect a more important role for technology in our daily lives. A focus on Design Thinking has led to innovation in the mobile user experience that is continuing to change the way humans communicate and socially relate to each other. In 2015 ever growing numbers of educators are driving innovative teaching methods along with more administrators understanding the need to advance a culture of change and innovation at their institutions. There are many challenges to for both educators and administrators that can be overcome by adopting the principles of Design Thinking. We will review a brief history of innovative teaching methods, their growth in adoption. a discussion of the challenges of promoting a culture of innovation at an institutional level, and an overview of Design Thinking along with practical examples of from technology, student, instructor, and administrator aspects.
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Advancing Cultures of Innovation in Higher Education
- 1. Advancing Cultures of Innovation in Higher Education Dan Peters @danspeters 2 July 2015
- 2. Edgar Schein’s Model of Organizational Culture Artifacts Values Assumptions
- 4. 6 Characteristics to Increase Technology Adoption
- 5. 6 Characteristics to Increase Technology Adoption
- 6. Lesson in Innovation Mobile phones originally replicated the Landline phone experience only mobile Blackberry changed the way we message Apple changed the way we use the Internet Android brought it to the masses Finally in 2015 over 50% mobile users in Turkey on Smartphone – 70% by 2018
- 7. Better education is inextricably tied to better experience Norman & Schmidt, “The psychological basis of problem-based learning: a review of the evidence” Rogoff, “Developing understanding of the idea of communities of learners” Barron et al, " Doing with understanding: Lessons from research on problem- and project-based learning”)
- 8. Successful learning requires a certain type of experience… Or
- 9. Design as an answer “Create an environment for the learner that encourages rather than inhibits their ‘natural’ tendency to learn”
- 11. Jon Kolko http://uxmag.com/articles/why-investment-in-design-is-the-only-way-to-win-in-education
- 12. Design Thinking in the Coming Updates to Blackboard
- 13. Flipping the Classroom, why it works Peer Instruction Process • Response Tool (clickers, polls.bb, etc.) • Facilitate activity with introductory information • Gather feedback • Ask learners to find a peer with a different answer and convince them of their response • Respond again • Analyze feedback • Provide Closure
- 14. References • Teaching in a Digital Age http://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/ • Stanford d.school Design Thinking workshop http://dschool.stanford.edu/dgift/ • Horizon Report 2015 http://www.nmc.org/publication/nmc-horizon-report- 2015-higher-education-edition/ • Peer Instruction: Ten years of experience and results http://www.usna.edu/Users/physics/rwilson/_files/documents/peer.pdf • 6 Characteristics to Increase Technology Adoption http://bbbb.blackboard.com/technology_adoption_series • Blackboard Design Methodology http://www.blackboard.com/sites/design/index.html
Editor's Notes
- There are many pockets of great teaching practice throughout the world. In Higher Education though, institutions like MEF that take a top-down, institution-wide approach to innovative teaching are the exception rather than the rule. That said, HE institutions the world over recognize how new technology can enhance the learning and teaching experience for staff and students. However, there are a range of obstacles to the adoption of technology that institutions must overcome. Change of any kind is daunting, particularly when dealing with long-established methods and systems. Success depends on shifting entrenched culture and attitudes. I believe in definitions. If we can agree on the term Higher Education then let’s start with “Culture” and then move on to “Innovation”
- Culture is the set of behaviors, values, artifacts, reward systems, and rituals that make up your organization. You can “feel” culture when you visit a place, because it is often evident in people’s behavior, enthusiasm, and the space itself. Edgar Schein's model of organizational culture originated in the 1980s. Schein (2004) identifies three distinct levels in organizational cultures: artifacts and behaviours espoused values assumptions The three levels refer to the degree to which the different cultural phenomena are visible to the observer. Artifacts include any tangible, overt or verbally identifiable elements in an organization. Architecture, furniture, manner of dress, jokes, all exemplify organizational artifacts. Artifacts are the visible elements in a culture and they can be recognized by people not part of the culture. Espoused values are the organization's stated values and rules of behavior. It is how the members represent the organization both to themselves and to others. This is often expressed in official philosophies and public statements of identity. It can sometimes often be a projection for the future, of what the members hope to become. Examples of this include a ”student-centered" mantra. Trouble may arise if espoused values by leaders are not in line with the deeper tacit assumptions of the culture.[1] Shared Basic Assumptions are the deeply embedded, taken-for-granted behaviours which are usually unconscious, but constitute the essence of culture. These assumptions are typically so well integrated in the office dynamic that they are hard to recognize from within.[2]
- With more than 13 years of research and publications, the NMC Horizon Project can be regarded as the world’s longest-running exploration of emerging technology trends and uptake in education. (click) Many thought leaders have long believed that universities can play a major role in the growth of national economies. Research universities are generally perceived as incubators for new discoveries and innovations that directly impact their local communities and even the global landscape. In order to breed innovation and adapt to economic needs, higher education institutions must be structured in ways that allow for flexibility, and spur creativity and entrepreneurial thinking. (click) The lack of rewards for exemplary teaching is considered by the panel as a wicked challenge that requires visionary leadership. Universities are set up in ways that inherently emphasize research over teaching. (Carnegie Mellon University’s Center for Teaching Excellence and Educational Innovation is focused on being an incubator for progressive pedagogies. Noteworthy professors are selected for the Spotlight on Innovative Teaching program, where they impart their wisdom to other educators in the form of workshops.) (pg 20)
- 1. Strong executive sponsorship - a senior leader in the institution who is endorsing and driving the change is key to ensuring that technology adoption aligns with institutional goals and encouraging participation across the institution. For learning technology this role is typically performed by a senior academic leader with responsibility for education and/or the student experience. This sponsorship positions technology adoption within the broader academic context, that the technology is not an end in itself but a means to provide a richer and more engaging student experience. Articulating how technology adoption supports the institution’s strategic vision provides clear top-down communication of that leadership. BLACKBOARD RECOMMENDS Facilitating ‘Focus on...’ sessions for the executive leadership team. These are effective forums for exploring and clarifying the benefits of new technology among senior managers. Developing a 3-5 year learning technology strategic plan, specifying objectives, adoption goals and developmental cycles. 2. With leadership from the top articulating how the change supports strategic goals – institutional commitment is further demonstrated through investment and internal resources. This is not only financial investment or the investment in the technology itself, but also in the internal resources required to deliver the change. These typically include learning technology support infrastructure, change/project management resources, buy-out funding and funds to encourage participation and innovation. Staff can be fearful of change and the impact it may have on their way of working. Coupled with higher education being in a state of apparently perpetual change, this can result in ‘change fatigue’. It is important to manage the change process, to reassure the academic community that time spent engaging with this change is valued by the institution and to address individual concerns. This should include a clear acknowledgement that work to incorporate technology within learning and teaching is a valid BLACKBOARD RECOMMENDS • Establishing an institutional change management programme led by a senior executive that supports the academic community through the transition. • Providing mechanisms to recognise and reward those who make a positive contribution and set standards across the institution. 3. Learning technology is playing a central and mission critical role in delivering high quality learning opportunities and supporting the broader student experience. Confidence in a robust and reliable infrastructure is essential in enabling institutional leadership to sponsor the change and strive for ambitious goals. It is equally important in encouraging academic adoption of technology and student engagement with the learning opportunities provided. Poor adoption can be seated in a reluctance to rely on something that doesn’t appear resilient and might fail at a crucial time, whether in the middle of a teaching session or whilst trying to submit and assignment. BLACKBOARD RECOMMENDS Asking these questions: Is learning technology available 24/7? Can it perform at the speed users need? Does it work as expected? Is it accessible across all platforms and devices? What metrics are shared with your academic community?
- 4. For most academic staff, adopting learning technology for the first time is a change to their well- established and proven practice. It asks them to step away from the comfort of the familiar and try something new. To be able to respond to this request it is essential that they have access to a range of effective and available support mechanisms in the form of training, ad hoc support and self-help resources. There are generally three pillars of learning technology support that needs to be available: 1. Technical support –2. Technology skills development –3. Pedagogical best practices – The two most common questions in establishing a learning technology support infrastructure is how many staff and where should they be located? Often, the answer is ‘it depends’. Organisational structures and resources vary from institution to institution depending on the overall institutional structure and culture. BLACKBOARD RECOMMENDS Developing an informal diagnostic or questionnaire – to help understand the training and support needs of academic staff at the institution. Considering introducing student employees and interns to the learning technology support structure – they are a great way of supporting staff and have excellent insights into what works well. • Mentoring each other – recruit early adopters as mentors to academics who are just starting out. Administrators and department chairs can use the technology themselves and serve as role models. • Making course development manageable – Create a reasonable timeline for development and support academics continuously during the process. Provide release time for course development, encourage academics to use a blended learning (hybrid) approach to their course delivery before considering online-only courses, and provide course designers who can help instructors to build their courses. 5. It is vital that the impact and benefits to the learner are considered as well as that of the staff when adopting new technology. On the technological level, for successful adoption into teaching, academics must perceive the technology as better than previous practice. A key factor is academics attitudes toward technology or intentions to use technology in their classrooms. If they have negative attitudes toward technology, providing them with the very best technology may not influence them to use it in their teaching. Academics need to be assured that technology can make their teaching interesting, easier, more fun for them and students, more motivating, more enjoyable and most importantly will improve student outcomes. Student success will be one of the top drivers for adopting new technology. Giving academics an idea of what using such technology would mean to the student will help them to understand what their efforts are for and will help them to integrate it into the design principles of courses. BLACKBOARD RECOMMENDS Collating and publishing “one paragraph” case studies – in video format that capture real world examples from within the institution showing how the application of learning technology has impacted on student learning and/or the staff experience. Looking for quick wins that positively impact the learner experience – identify how the technology directly affects students and show academics how it helps students succeed and improves workflows. Use data to prove the case. Recruiting champions and convert the laggards – empower the technology champions to sway their peers, but also find academics or staff who are the primary voice of resistance and meet with them. Discuss how greater adoption of technology can aid in student success and help meet student expectations to help convert them to advocates. Recognising them – acknowledge academics who are doing exemplary work through awards, articles, tweets, and other channels available at the institution. Point out the positives – when teaching online, academics can enjoy a new teaching paradigm with more flexibility, more student contact, and more data to base course improvement decisions on. This can be part of the marketing communications plan, and can include stories about academics who are innovating and benefiting from it. 6. The adoption of technology in teaching and learning frequently raises questions about how it impacts on students’ success, improves the student experience and makes effective use of staff time. This can lead to exploring: Is the educational technology initiative working well? Is there an understanding of the current level of adoption? Are the results that were expected, being achieved? If not, is there clear evidence of what changes can move the initiative closer to its objectives? BLACKBOARD RECOMMENDS Asking these questions: How is adoption measured? What’s the baseline? What is trying to be achieved? Why and how will it be done? What evidence is needed to make good decisions?
- Let’s take a brief segue to look at the maturation of a device that has dramatically changed the daily experience of most of our lives: the smartphone Statistics source emarketer Dec 2014 (click)
- The reason education has not been disrupted by technology is because we've confused the forgivable attribute with the payoff attribute. The value proposition of educational technology should be better education; this should be the promised payoff. Pragmatist educators like John Dewey made it clear that better education is inextricably tied to better experience; this is validated by cognitive psychology research indicating that experiential learning (through problem-based learning, for example) leads to increased retention of knowledge, intrinsic interest in the subject matter, and enhances self-directed learning skills. (See for example Norman & Schmidt, “The psychological basis of problem-based learning: a review of the evidence”, Rogoff, “Developing understanding of the idea of communities of learners”, and Barron et al, " Doing with understanding: Lessons from research on problem- and project-based learning”) But in most disruptive innovations, the quality of the experience is a forgivable attribute, not the payoff attribute. When digital cameras were first introduced, we accepted low image resolution in exchange for convenience. With text messaging, we sacrificed rich communication for speed. In ed-tech, we've traditionally traded qualities of the learning experience for things like access, scale, and convenience. But the experience part of education is non-forgivable. A positive learning experience is the payoff. And when we miss this, we miss it all. Wait, What? That's confusing enough that our assumptions bear repeating, but with more nuance and detail. Here's the argument, spelled out. (click) Ref: Jon Kolko, http://uxmag.com/articles/why-investment-in-design-is-the-only-way-to-win-in-education
- There are some contexts where the quality of the experience is so fundamental that design can't be seen as extraneous. In these contexts, design is the payoff attribute. Education is one of those contexts. Successful learning requires a certain type of experience. Good teachers create positive learning contexts, so students can have these positive experiences. In many ways, a good teacher is a designer—a teacher is an expert in manipulating how people feel, and in structuring activities and interactions in a way that is thoughtful, appropriate, and instructional. In the best scenarios, that teacher is aware of a larger series of student/institutional touchpoints, like academic advising, psychological counseling, and other student services. They can build upon a larger academic journey, and support a consistent, contiguous experience of learning. Most of technology-driven change in higher education (in the form of computer-based learning: hybrid, MOOC, and distance learning software)—suffers from a lack of "attention to experience." Most online learning solutions take the form of a content repository, a discussion forum, and video distribution. This is akin to giving an expert teacher control over the content, pacing, and sequence of their class, but little control over the remaining attributes of the learning experience. (click)
- Designers aim to shape the quality of experiences. Sometimes this is called “user experience design” or “interaction design.” Designers are trained to think about emotions, motivation, and psychology. This is a view of design that extends beyond the way things look. Designers are experts in manipulating how people feel. Designers know how to build these frameworks and drive the emotional and qualitative qualities of engagement. Design needs to be the centerpiece for educational innovation Dan Pratt (1998) studied 253 teachers of adults, across five different countries, and identified ‘five qualitatively different perspectives on teaching,... presenting each perspective as a legitimate view of teaching‘: transmission: effective delivery of content (an objectivist approach) apprenticeship: modelling ways of being (learning by doing under supervision) developmental: cultivating ways of thinking (constructivist/cognitivist) nurturing: facilitating self-efficacy (a fundamental tenet of connectivist MOOCs) social reform: seeking a better society. In the nurturing perspective on teaching there is a strong emphasis on the teacher focusing on the interests of the learner, on empathizing with how the learner approaches learning, of listening carefully to what the learner is saying and thinking when learning, and providing appropriate, supportive responses in the form of ‘consensual validation of experience‘. This perspective is driven partly by the observation that people learn autonomously from a very early age, so the trick is to create an environment for the learner that encourages rather than inhibits their ‘natural’ tendency to learn, and directs it into appropriate learning tasks, decided by an analysis of the learner’s needs. (Bates, pg 96)
- First off, design thinking is an iterative process. It is requires some sort of feedback. At Blackboard when we talk about putting the student at the center of the learning experience that is realized by putting students at the center of our design process. More on that later but first I’d like to describe through the Stanford d.school’s Design Thinking process. Empathize. Who or what are you trying to affect? E.g. examination of students. How do they feel about the examination process? When was their last exam? What was their least favorite part? What was their favorite part? Then after you have answers dig deeper with why questions. Why was their favorite part after the examination was finished? Define – try to put these findings into a few “needs” and a few “insights” Needs should be verbs. E.g. in the examination what exactly is the student trying to accomplish? What does the examination do for THEM? Insights are discoveries of things you didn’t know or didn’t connect that you might be able to use in a solution. You now need to take a stand on what exactly the challenge is that you are trying to take on. It should be a problem that feels worthy of tackling. E.g. Maybe you’ve discovered that the reason your student cares about a good score on their examination is that they need a more financially rewarding career because they have to take care of their family? Or are bored with their current job? Or they were inspired as a child to study their subject? Ideate – a funny word also meaning brainstorming or coming up with new ideas. This should be in multiple modes. Don’t just write – draw. Stick figures and squiggly lines are fine. We aren’t trying to evaluate any of these ideas just yet. Come up with as many ideas as you can. Once you have some ideas gather feedback. Fight the urge to defend your ideas – this is not about validation; this is about learning more about the feelings and motivations of those you are trying to affect (remember: empathy). At this point you should reflect upon the feedback and generate a new solution. You may want to try a variation of something you’ve done before or your solution may be a completely new idea. E.g. Ask yourself, how might this solution fit into the student’s life? Prototype – build. Create something that can be interacted with and responded to. The prototype doesn’t have to be a complete solution but it should cover an important aspect of the solution. Identify a different thing to test with different prototypes. Don’t spend too much time on one prototype. What do you hope to test? What sort of behavior do you expect? Answering those questions can help focus your prototype Test – Don’t defend the prototype. The important thing is the feedback to the prototype. Observe how your prototype is used and MISUSED. Show don’t tell – let the tester interpret the prototype. Allow testers to compare multiple prototypes Final comments – the pace through these steps should be quick. Quick, iterative cycles are more important to the process than polished, finished work. The Stanford d.school quick course on this process is a 90 minute workshop through all 5 steps.
- for us to collectively realize the benefits of advanced technology in the context of education, we need to treat the experience of learning as the primary “thing we are trying to improve.” This requires empathy with the people doing the teaching and learning, which is gained through a qualitative design process. It requires attending to the details of interactions, gained through an iterative interaction design process. It requires building in the various educational strategies described above, which are all experiential. And most importantly, it requires funding a commitment to design as a core competency—as something that is inextricably linked to the value proposition of the products and services we make. It’s not “icing on the cake” or a “nice to have”—in education, the experience is not a forgivable attribute. It’s the payoff. (http://uxmag.com/articles/why-investment-in-design-is-the-only-way-to-win-in-education) Blackboard in 2015 will begin to release new user experiences with design as their key attribute led by chief designer Jon Kolko Jon Kolko is Vice President of Consumer Design at Blackboard; he joined Blackboard with the acquisition of MyEdu, a startup focused on helping students succeed in university and get jobs. (read as much of Jon's background as relevant for your audience and situation) He has taught at the University of Texas at Austin, the Center for Design Studies of Monterrey, in Mexico, and Malmö University, in Sweden. His fourth book, "Well Designed: How to use Empathy to Create Products People Love" was published by Harvard Business Review Press in November, 2014. (optional bio below) Jon is also the Founder and Director of Austin Center for Design. His work focuses on bringing the power of design to social enterprises, with an emphasis on entrepreneurship. He has worked extensively with both startups and Fortune 500 companies, and he's most interested in humanizing educational technology. Jon has previously held positions of Executive Director of Design Strategy at Thinktiv, a venture accelerator in Austin, Texas, and both Principal Designer and Associate Creative Director at frog design, a global innovation firm. He has been a Professor of Interaction and Industrial Design at the Savannah College of Art and Design, where he was instrumental in building both the Interaction and Industrial Design undergraduate and graduate programs. Jon has also held the role of Director for the Interaction Design Association (IxDA), and Editor-in-Chief of interactions magazine, published by the ACM. He is regularly asked to participate in high-profile conferences and judged design events, including the 2013 Cooper-Hewitt National Design Awards. Jon is the author of three books: Thoughts on Interaction Design, published by Morgan Kaufmann, Exposing the Magic of Design: A Practitioner's Guide to the Methods and Theory of Synthesis, published by Oxford University Press, and Wicked Problems: Problems Worth Solving, published by Austin Center for Design. (click)
- How People Learn, the seminal work from John Bransford, Ann Brown, and Rodney Cocking, reports three key findings about the science of learning, two of which help explain the success of the flipped classroom. Bransford and colleagues assert that “To develop competence in an area of inquiry, students must: a) have a deep foundation of factual knowledge, b) understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework, and c) organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application” (p. 16). By providing an opportunity for students to use their new factual knowledge while they have access to immediate feedback from peers and the instructor, the flipped classroom helps students learn to correct misconceptions and organize their new knowledge such that it is more accessible for future use. Furthermore, the immediate feedback that occurs in the flipped classroom also helps students recognize and think about their own growing understanding, thereby supporting Bransford and colleagues’ third major conclusion: “A ‘metacognitive’ approach to instruction can help students learn to take control of their own learning by defining learning goals and monitoring their progress in achieving them” (p. 18). Although students’ thinking about their own learning is not an inherent part of the flipped classroom, the higher cognitive functions associated with class activities, accompanied by the ongoing peer/instructor interaction that typically accompanies them, can readily lead to the metacognition associated with deep learning. 5 steps to get started with Peer Instruction Convince yourself (and your colleagues) Motivate Students Change Examinations Change Lecture Format Problem Solving
- There is a strong emphasis on the teacher focusing on the interests of the learner, on empathizing with how the learner approaches learning, of listening carefully to what the learner is saying and thinking when learning, and providing appropriate, supportive responses in the form of ‘consensual validation of experience‘. This perspective is driven partly by the observation that people learn autonomously from a very early age, so the trick is to create an environment for the learner that encourages rather than inhibits their ‘natural’ tendency to learn, and directs it into appropriate learning tasks, decided by an analysis of the learner’s needs. Bates pg 96