Neil Morris
Dean of Digital Education and Professor of Educational Technology at the University of Leeds. For more information see: https://essl.leeds.ac.uk/education/staff/156/professor-neil-morris
Location Leeds, UK
Activity
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Neil Morris replied to William O'Connor
Welcome William - thank you for joining the course - looking forward to reading your thoughts, and hearing about how unbundling is playing out in Japan.
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Neil Morris replied to Joyce Siwila-Saasa
Hello Joyce - welcome to the course - your role and context will provide fascinating insight for our community.
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Neil Morris replied to Ozomarisi Adeiza
Welcome, Ozomarisi - I am looking forward to hearing your perspectives on this subject.
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thanks for your post, Nokuthula, and for reminding us of important work about equity, which is a central issue for us all.
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Thanks for the feedback, Gilbert. I don't think it is out of date - conversations between universities and OPMs are happening as we speak about which of these activities might be done by in partnerships to scale up online education, as a response to covid. Hope I haven't misunderstood your comment.
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Neil Morris replied to Stefan Drew
@StefanDrew I agree that this might be part of our future, and our research aims to understand the impacts of this on universities, academics, students etc. Do you think this will be a positive change?
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Neil Morris made a comment
Hello everyone, and welcome to the course - we hope you find this useful to help during the current situation. I've just written a blog post related to this research project, which you might also find useful: https://www.hepi.ac.uk/2020/04/29/scaling-up-online-education-more-haste-less-speed/ Looking forward to hearing your thoughts in this community.
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Neil Morris replied to Susan Jones
Many thanks for your thoughtful reflection Susan - i completely agree with your analysis. I hope this course helps you to navigate this terrain in the future. Best wishes
Neil -
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Susan. These maps are snapshots of the situation at a current time . Unfortunately, we don't have the resources to keep these maps updated live. Your point about academic concerns about their teaching materials being used commercially and in unbundled provision has come across strongly in our data collection.
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Neil Morris replied to Trinh Ha Tuyet
Welcome to the course, Trinh!
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Neil Morris replied to Chakela Thaba
Welcome to the course, Chakela!
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Neil Morris replied to Rajiv Jhangiani
Thank you for the positive feedback Rajiv, it is much appreciated.
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Neil Morris replied to Neil Morris
@JcaribE Many thanks for the positive feedback. Neil
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Neil Morris replied to Neil Morris
@MafuzaMaya Thanks for the feedback - I am pleased that you have found the course useful, and hopefully you can produce some maps of your own now!
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Neil Morris replied to Neil Morris
Thank you for your feedback. I am pleased to see that this course has stimulated your thoughts in this topic. Thanks for sharing with us.
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@UB Thank you for sharing these articles with our community.
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Neil Morris replied to Vicki J
Hello Vicki, and welcome to the course. you bring fascinating experience to our community.
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Neil Morris replied to Matthew Scott
Hi Matt, and thanks for joining. You will have very interesting perspectives from learners about their motivations for online study, and I look forward to reading your thoughts.
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Neil Morris replied to Jcarib E
Welcome to the course, Jcarib, and i hope you find it useful. Looking forward to engaging with your contributions.
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Neil Morris made a comment
Thank you for engaging with this course this week. There has been rich discussion and we have enjoyed contributing! You might be interested to know that we have participants from over 70 countries enrolled on this course, and significant cohorts from the UK, South Africa, India, USA, Australia, Nigeria, China, Canada and UAE. Clearly, this is a topic which...
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I agree, UB. I recently heard senior lawyers talking about how artificial intelligence is going to completely disrupt the legal profession, and it is already happening in fields like accountancy. Education needs to keep up with what is happening now in these sectors.
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Neil Morris replied to Keith Cornelius
This is a really important observation, Keith - I have been trying to encourage a conversation about broadening our definition of 'student' and 'learner' to acknowledge a wider continuum of people who are (or want to) engage with higher education level education. I think it is essential that universities do have a role in education across a broader spectrum,...
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Neil Morris replied to Will Pollard
@SheilaMacNeill Hello Sheila, and welcome to the course! Thanks for joining us. Your experience is invaluable in this community, and I hope you will share your perspectives about unbundling, marketisation and digitisation with colleagues here.
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Neil Morris replied to Georgie L
Where did this 'big push' come from, Georgie? And has it been welcomed by teaching staff?
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Do you think that lecturers working with instructional designers to create online/blended learning activities is having any unintended (negative) consequences, Lungile?
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Neil Morris replied to U B
Really interesting to hear that this shift is happening, UB. Are all staff supportive of this direction of travel?
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Thanks for your comment, Dorris. Do you think that the fact that staff have found using technology makes things easier is the major driver for engagement and adoption? Are there other technologies that could make lecturers' lives easier?
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Interesting reflections, thanks for sharing. I've always been intrigued why universities don't partner more on education, particularly when they have overcome barriers to collaboration in research. Any easy answers?
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Agreed, Keith and Janet, i have been trying to encourage people to think more broadly about the concept of student, as this is broadening along a wider continuum than previously conceived.
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This is a really good question, Irene - universities may be trying to meet the needs of increasing numbers of stakeholders
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Interested to hear your thoughts on how the academic role is changing as a result of growth in online education, Rachel? We have been thinking about this as well.
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Neil Morris replied to Thanokazi Mfikoyi
Welcome Thandokazi, I hope you find the course useful, and look forward to hearing your thoughts.
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Neil Morris replied to Rachel Jessop
Welcome, Rachel, hope you find the course stimulating.
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Welcome, Lungile, and thank you for joining this learning community.
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Neil Morris replied to Georgie L
Welcome Georgie - you will certainly have interesting insights to add to our community!
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Neil Morris replied to Samantha Oakley
Welcome Samantha. hope you find the course useful.
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Neil Morris replied to Jason Townsend
Welcome to the course, Jason. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts during the course.
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Neil Morris replied to Stephen Marshall
Welcome to the course, Stephen. Looking forward to hearing your reflections.
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Neil Morris replied to Stephen Webb
Many thanks for all your thoughtful comments, Stephen. We will be interested to hear if the course has any impact in your context.
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Our research suggests that students would consider online learning if it were cheaper, and flexibly available (ie to reduce travel time), but largely our (campus-based) sample of students said they would still do a campus-based degree even if online courses could get them a well paid job.
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This is really interesting, Alison - which context do you work in?
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Agreed - many universities are simultaneously thinking about the 'holistic whole' i.e. the programme and moving away from thinking about individual units like modules, whilst also unbundling programmes and marketing individual courses.
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Brandon - the See Also is a link to the project website briefings https://unbundleduni.com/outputs/publications/policy-briefings/
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Stephen - these are exactly the type of questions that fascinate me. Can you imagine a time when employers want learners to take a collection of accredited courses from universities around the world, to build a relevant and appropriate CV?
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Neil Morris replied to Renate R
Many thanks for your positive feedback, Renate.
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Neil Morris replied to Kelly Jerome
Welcome Kelly, I hope you find the course useful in your role.
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Neil Morris replied to Reem Al-Mahmood
Hi Reem - welcome to the course, and thanks for joining us. Really looking forward to hearing your perspectives through the discussion. Neil
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Neil Morris replied to Carla le Roux
Welcome to the course, Carla, and many thanks for sharing this interesting article.
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Neil Morris replied to Gabriel Konayuma
Hi Gabriel - welcome, and many thanks for joining the course. We are very interested in your reflections on the course from a policy perspective. Neil
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Neil Morris replied to [Learner left FutureLearn]
Hi Siri, and thanks for this contribution. I think you are describing the phenomenon of ‘virtual exhange’ Which we are seeing growing as students can access online courses from other universities without leaving their campus. It would be great to continue this discussion throughout the course, and get perspectives from others.
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Many thanks for sharing your thoughts on this topic, Bill, and for the link to an interesting article.
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Hi Daniela - good to have you here. We are also concerned by the potential increase in inequality as education moves online, and language is an important consideration.
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Neil Morris replied to [Learner left FutureLearn]
Welcome to the course - I am looking forward to reading your thoughts as you progress through the course.
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Neil Morris replied to Jared Stein
Hi Jared - welcome to the course, and thanks for joining. I hope you found it useful - let us know how discussions go within your team.
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Brandon, this is a great observation, and one we have discussed many times. Yes, the involvement of for profit companies in online degrees is driving the provision towards particular (large) markets. In my opinion, universities have a responsibility to support all of their disciplines to reach new markets, and evolve their learning and teaching offer.
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@StephenWebb we have a course on developing learners' digital skills as well :) https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/blended-learning-digital-skills
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Hi Stephen - I hope you enjoyed Jisc's Digifest event. I agree with your reflections about technologies coming and going. I think that few technologies will really lead to significant disruption in education (in the way that the iPhone did for mobile telephones), but together the advances in technology, and online education, are generating significant pressure...
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@StephenWebb I agree with this Stephen - degree apprenticeships are a significant potential disruptor - they have elements of the issues we debate here, where external agencies are driving curriculum (employers), learning and teaching is online (to some extent), and there is flexibility for the learner. Digital literacy is a key issue for degree...
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This is a legitimate challenge, Peter, and we shouldn't necessarily be saying university *should* maintain control, but the issue of 'honorary faculty' (as you describe them) employed by OPMs was certainly a contentious issue in our research - questions about quality, alignment with university values, casualisation of academic labour and unbundled of academic...
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Hi Peter - good to have you here - I see your logic, but I'm not sure all students would agree that the fee for their education should be used for university activities that they don't directly benefit from (e.g. research equipment not accessible to students). Of course, there is the wider argument that research feeds societal improvement, and research-based...
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No, we generate income from core activities. E.g. business schools with lots of international masters students paying high fees generates significant income, but this gets invested in more building, more staff, more facilities, more services etc. The difficult questions arise when that fee income is used to cross-subsidise research activity (which might not...
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A key issue Alicia - the promise of democratisation has not yet been realised by online education - what do we need to change to make that a reality - participants on this course are going to be the people who nudge this issue in a positive direction.
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Hi Nathan - good to have you on the course - i think this issue is going to be central for universities in the future - what is the USP and benefit of 'belonging to a university'... community, co-curricular, network, facilities, research training etc etc.? It can't just be knowledge and skills any more.
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And if employers chose the 'bundle' they would pick the elements that they needed their employees to have to succeed in their roles. This could shift the requirement to think about horizontal/vertical integration of curriculum (scaffolding) to the curriculum designer in a company, and away from the university... with consequences?
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This is a useful challenge, Chris. For me the answer is multi-faceted, and involves a range of factors that influence successful change management in universities. For ease, I'm posted a link to a piece of work I did on this a few years ago where we teased out the factors that support effective change with technology in universities:...
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Neil Morris replied to Derek Moore
I like these examples, Derek, and I agree this is not about mode or study, it is about learning outcomes, individuals and flexible, accessible and pedagogically appropriate learning and teaching. Well designed online education is costly (in may ways) but the potential benefits to meet a more diverse population of learners where they are, and enrich their...
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I can see you concerns, Brandon, and they are echoed here. In principle, outsourcing of marketing sounds sensible for a university, given that there are specialist companies for marketing, but in my view the problems come when there is a disconnect between the marketing of the 'product' and the holistic understanding of the learning experience and overall...
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@BrandonMuramatsu yes, this is certainly going to be a growing issue for universities, as their staff profile becomes more diverse. There are also risks of casualisation of teachers, and the unbundling of the academic role itself.
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@AnnL I hope this doesn't happen Ann, as it would completely erode trust in academia and public universities. As most (but not all) MOOCs / online courses are currently developed by universities, the quality assurance is very high, and for us at least, all content is evidence-, and research-based. There is a legitimate concern that as the number of MOOC...
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Hi Mike - good question. I agree that in some places, online courses are a bit off the grid, and not within normal quality assurance processes etc. However, speaking for my own university, our assurance of online courses is equivalent to (and in some cases, superior to) that for campus-based courses. It would be interesting to hear from other participants...
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@KarenFerreira-Meyers I agree, but I don't think that the current form of unbundling that we are seeing would have been possible without the advances in online education platforms.
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Neil Morris replied to Ann L
Hi Ann - this is a complex question, depending on the type of distance education, the institution and the country. For example, in the UK, the Open University, a distance education university, has been offering unbundled distance education for over 40 years - students can enrol on individual courses and study by distance; this has been very successful and...
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Hi Brandon - in the UK, public universities are charities, but are able to generate surplus for investment in university activities. For this reason, we tend to avoid the phrase profit, although that is effectively what is being generated. As we describe in the course, universities are increasingly using online courses as a way to generate third stream income...
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Neil Morris made a comment
Hello everyone, and thank you all so much for joining this course. We are delighted that this course is up and running, after so long planning and preparing. We are also delighted to have just over 400 enrolments from individuals in over 40 countries. But most importantly, it is fantastic to see the fascinating and rich discussion emerging already. The...
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Neil Morris replied to Edgar Alosbaños
Good to see the course being integrated into PGCE training, Roy - personally, I think all teachers and trainers should do this course, but I may be a little biased :)
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Neil Morris made a comment
Thanks for all the positive feedback - it is great to see that the course is useful for your practice.
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Great comments, Ann and Concepcion - good to see such honesty and openness to change, and support for each other!
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Neil Morris replied to Jo W
sorry for going too fast! But at least you have the video, to watch again - a perfect example of the value of a blended approach to learning!
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Neil Morris replied to Aura Piha
Thanks for sharing this, Aura - participants sharing resources like this is one of the most valuable aspects of this course.
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Neil Morris replied to Zaakir Akhtar
Great to see you putting the course into practice, Zaakir
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Neil Morris replied to Mick Pope
Agreed, Mike - this is a very important consideration.
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Neil Morris made a comment
Hello everyone - welcome to the course! I hope you find the materials useful as you progress through the steps, and most importantly find the discussion enriching and stimulating. Best wishes Neil
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Great to hear about institutional level strategy and implementation of staff and students digital literacy training programme!
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You are right of course Alison; digital skills extend all the way through basic competencies, right up to critical evaluation, information literacy etc. Many people would benefit from a digital literacy framework that allows them to develop their skills up through the levels.
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Thanks for sharing this Hazel - it is a useful reminder that increasingly our workplaces are becoming digitised. I was thinking about this yesterday whilst getting my hair cut, and my hairdressers uses online tools for appointments, and they even have their own app. I also noticed them consulting computers for colour mixing etc. Digital skills are needed in...
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Hi Jonathan - yes, OneFile and OneNote are becoming increasingly common for this kind of use - particularly due to the multi-media file formats and the ability to share content.
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Poor internet connection serves as a useful reminder that we always need to provide alternative ways for our learners to access resources, and to provide resources which can adapt to degradation in network bandwidth.
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Neil Morris made a comment
Hello and welcome to the course! I hope you will find this course interesting and that the materials we have provided will stimulate a lively discussion, and a great community.
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Neil Morris replied to Jerome Chan
lol! Great minds and all that, Lynne :)
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Neil Morris made a comment
You may find it useful to look at this interactive toolkit that I built to support colleagues leading change in TEL: https://www.lfhe.ac.uk/en/research-resources/resource-hub/cll/interactive-toolkit.cfm
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Neil Morris replied to Jerome Chan
Don't give up, and keep sharing the evidence with your colleagues. Also, use your students as they are the most powerful advocates for change.
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Neil Morris replied to Marco Bertolini
Great reflective comments here Marco, thanks for sharing.
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Neil Morris made a comment
Great to see such positive endorsements for the ideas here about collaborative group working. I find that activities such as this really help students to grasp knowledge and apply it to real world scenarios, but also to develop important skills that they will use on a daily basis in work.
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I think this relates to the copyright status of the design document - ideally you would want them to be licensed as Creative Commons to allow sharing, adaptation and re-use
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Neil Morris replied to Senapon Bakre
In terms of assessing group work, I assess individual contributions via reflective logs completed during the process, and a group reflection which is provided in the final assessment. I also have clear marking criteria for individual and group-based contributions to the group assignment. I hope this helps.
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This is a great comment, Marco - we can all give useful feedback to others both as teachers and learners, and we need to signal this to our learners. Peer feedback can work really well when it is managed in a very structured way with clear guidelines for the person giving feedback.
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I agree John - we need to be realistic about the time needed for collaborative learning activities, and this reminds us of the need for rigorous curriculum design at the outset of planning and learning and teaching activity.
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Neil Morris replied to Anne Miesel
Hi Anne - this is a valid question and a common concern about group work. There are many ways to design group projects to measure both the process and the output of the individuals and the group e.g. using technology solutions such as wikis / google docs which record individual contributions and processes such as reflective logs and group reflections to...
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Neil Morris made a comment
Welcome to participants who have just joined the course. I hope you find it useful. There are participants working their way through the course at their own pace, so please do join the discussions as convenient.
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Hi emma and Dario, this is often discussed in relation to group work, but technology helps here. we can now design group based assessments where we measure process as we all as output, for example when students co-construct a wiki or collaborative writing piece (google docs) the edits from each participant are recorded. You can also build in process to the...
