2.2 Operational Issues: Technical Knowledge and Ability in the Use of Learning Technology

Development of Ultraversity online environment

The screen grab below illustrates the environment developed for Ultraversity using the Plone content management system introduced in section 2.1. The online learning environment was developed through collaboration between the Ultraversity technical team and myself with each individual bringing a particular skill set to the project.

The Plone software was designed for collaborative working between web designers and as such is capable of being set up with a high degree of symmetry between users with different roles. My responsibility was for the initial structuring and build of the online environment including decisions about access and permissions.

Figure 3 Online Environment (source: www.researchers.ultraversity.net)

The environment developed consists of several key areas with distinct learning purposes.

Cohort areas are designed for discrete student groups where module related discussions and activities are hosted. This is a ‘one-stop’ space where students can pick up vital module information such as start and submissions dates, when they can expect feedback and results, and links to module discussions and related resources.

Hotseat discussion and archive is an essential ingredient of the Ultraversity experience and is where external guests hold focused conversations with researchers. The space is set up to allow for universal access so that experts are available to all students and not restricted to certain groups (appendix 2).

e-Portfolio space is offered through the Plone ‘my folder’ where permissions have been set to allow students full access to the Plone tool set. The individual user can upload and store work and chose to allow access to particular views for collaboration with fellow students and for assessment purposes.

Development of new induction Blog

A second online environment I collaboratively developed for the Ultraversity project is the induction blog. Initially developed in the Drupal blog platform, with colleagues, we have just completed the development of a new blog using the Elgg software. Hosted by Elgg, this approach was taken to explore the possibilities of the new wave of web2.0 services.

Figure 4 Ultraversity Induction Blog

The purpose of the induction blog is to act as staging post for students who have registered with ARU, but for who their start date is some period of time away. In addition, Shirley Pickford has now developed a framework for an induction module that outlines the intended learning by students who participate in this voluntary activity.

The Elgg platform can be described as a personal learning environment (PLE). The key technology underpinning its functionality is RSS that enables the sharing of content that is then aggregating into different views or representations.

The design for the Ultraversity induction blog in Elgg (appendix 3) is a simple one with an identity Ultraversity content hosting the induction information and then individual learning facilitators pushing their personal posts to the shared blog. Students are able to either create their own Elgg account and fully utilise the platform functionality, or simply brows and access the static information but not access the induction activities for which an account is required.

The move into externally hosted software has both benefits and challenges. Clearly, we have less control over how it is developed and are not able to significantly ‘hack’ the interface to meet our needs. On the plus side, we no longer have to maintain servers and software which has significant advantages in terms of saving resources. The success of this approach will need evaluating after this induction period.