Browsing by Author "Roberts, Verena"

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    Ethical Use of Technology in Digital Learning Environments: Graduate Student Perspectives
    (2021-01-12) Brown, Barbara; Roberts, Verena; Jacobsen, Michele; Hurrell, Christie; Kerr, Kourtney; van Struen, Heather; Neutzling, Nicole; Lowry, Jeff; Zarkovic, Simo; Ansorger, Jennifer; Marles, Terri; Lockyer, Emma; Parthenis, Dean
    This book is the result of a co-design project in a class in the Masters of Education program at the University of Calgary. The course, and the resulting book, focus primarily on the safe and ethical use of technology in digital learning environments. The course was organized according to four topics based on Farrow’s (2016) Framework for the Ethics of Open Education.
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    Ethical Use of Technology in Digital Learning Environments: Graduate Student Perspectives, Volume 2
    (University of Calgary, 2021-12-22) Brown, Barbara; Roberts, Verena; Jacobsen, Michele; Hurrell, Christie; Travers-Hayward, Mia; Neutzling, Nicole; Templeman, Joel; Steeves, Marcia; Hendrickson, Rob; Luinstra, David; Humphreys, Lindsay; Dunham, Lacey; Maciach, Michael
    This book is the result of a co-design project in a class in the Masters of Education program at the University of Calgary. The course, and the resulting book, focus primarily on the safe and ethical use of technology in digital learning environments, and is the second volume in the series. The course was organized according to four topics based on Farrow’s (2016) Framework for the Ethics of Open Education. Students were asked to review, analyze, and synthesize each topic from three meta-ethical theoretical positions: deontological, consequentialist, and virtue ethical (Farrow, 2016).  The chapters in this open educational resource (OER) were co-designed using a participatory pedagogy with the intention to share and mobilize knowledge with a broader audience. The first section, comprised of four chapters, focuses on topics relating to well-being in technology-enabled learning environments, including the use of web cameras, eproctoring software, video games, and access to broadband connectivity. The second section focuses on privacy and autonomy of learners and citizens in a variety of contexts from schools to clinical settings.  In each of the seven chapters, the authors discuss the connection to the value of technology in education, and practical possibilities of learning technologies for inclusive, participatory, democratic, and pluralistic educational paradigms. The book concludes with reflections from the course instructor gained over two iterations of teaching the course. This is a static version of the text; the live Pressbook can be accessed via https://openeducationalberta.ca/educationaltechnologyethics2/
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    Fostering Student Success in Online Courses
    (Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning, 2023) Aparicio-Ting, Fabiola; Arcellana-Panlilio, Mayi; Bensler, Heather; Brown, Barbara; Clancy, Tracey; Dyjur, Patti; Radford, Scott; Redwood, Chene; Roberts, Verena; Sabbaghan, Soroush; Schroeder, Meadow; Summers, Mindi; Tézli, Annette; Wilks, Leighton; Wright, Alysia
    The pandemic had a disruptive impact on teaching and learning in higher education. For many, the transition to online learning presented enormous challenges, individually and collectively. Many of us sought immediate strategies to support student learning and success in an online context. We experienced many successes and failures along the way. This Guide provides an inspiring collection of scholarly reflections and approaches to supporting meaningful course learning opportunities for students and postsecondary educators, in online environments. The guide contains nine chapters contributed by members of the Teaching Academy from across disciplines involved in undergraduate and/or graduate instruction, writing solo or with collaborators, to highlight an aspect of their teaching that leverages the online environment to enhance student learning. Each of these chapters offers sage, pragmatic descriptions of course contexts, design considerations, and implementation, for online assessments (Chapter 1, 4), for innovative learning activities (Chapter 2, 6), for flexible course design (Chapter 5, 7), for engaging large classes (Chapter 8), for facilitating group work (Chapter 9), and for intentionally addressing the need for students to flourish (Chapter 3). Importantly, for the reader, each chapter shares the wisdom of practice of the author/s, discussing implications of use and giving concrete recommendations for those who are thinking of applying similar strategies.
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    Mobilizing Open Educational Practices in Higher Education: A Plenary Discussion
    (2022-10-26) Wright, Alysia; Brown, Barbara; Roberts, Verena; Hurrell, Christie; Anselmo, Lorelei
    The need for accessible, inclusive, and dynamic learning materials has become increasingly important for students and educators engaged in various modes of distance learning. In this plenary, four post-secondary educators from multiple disciplines discuss the Open Pedagogy Talks, a series of lightning talks focusing on open educational practices, pedagogy, and resources. The purpose of these talks was to create an accessible, virtual space for educators and students to engage in conversations about open educational practices (OEPs) and bring more awareness to opportunities to mobilize OEPs in diverse educational contexts. Using the Talks as a case study, panelists will share their strategies for mobilizing OEPS in different settings, learning contexts, and partnerships. Specifically, they focus on the importance of educator/student partnerships in advancing the use of OEPs in higher education to impact student learning by highlighting strategies for supporting these partnerships in OEP activities and initiatives. As a multi-institutional partnership, the Open Pedagogy Talks were designed to embrace the complexity and opportunity that OEPs bring to distance and in-person education. To mobilize OEPs in higher education, it is imperative that educators and students collaborate on initiatives that make OEPs more visible, accessible, and recognizable in diverse contexts. These interrelated considerations form a cyclical framework that can be taken up by staff, students, faculty, and other advocates and adapted for diverse contexts and needs. The panelists will discuss how they employed this model when they contributed to the development of the Open Pedagogy Talks, the lessons that they learned throughout the process, and strategies for increasing collaborations between students and educators in various settings.
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    New Teachers Implementing Professional Practice Standards
    (2019-10-04) Brown, Barbara; Roberts, Verena; Beck, Jaime L.
    The aim of this study was to document the impact of a professional learning intervention designed particularly for new teachers as they engage in career-long learning and meet expectations according to the Teaching Quality Standard (Alberta Education, 2018). Partners from a school authority joined faculty from the Werklund School of Education and professional learning facilitators from the Galileo Educational Network to engage in a research-practice partnership. A design-based research approach using quantitative (pre- and post-surveys) and qualitative data (artifacts of learning, field notes, classroom observations) were analyzed over one year. There were over 450 participants involved in the professional learning series. Findings from this research partnership study indicated new teachers were supported through the design-based professional learning sessions and this intervention had a positive impact on teacher learning and practice in relationship to the Teaching Quality Standard (Alberta Education, 2018). All teachers need the opportunity to establish professional learning networks inside and outside of their schools in order to connect with others and build a supportive professional learning network.
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    Open Educational Practices (OEP) for Research Skill Development in an Online Graduate Program
    (2023-04-05) Roberts, Verena; Brown, Barbara; Jacobsen, Michele; Hurrell, Christie; Neutzling, Nicole; Travers-Hayward, Mia
    In this presentation, we will describe results from a design-based study showing how graduate students enrolled in a course-based Master’s program developed research based skills as a result of participating and engaging in a program designed and delivered using open educational practices (OEP). The program was designed to reflect the principles of OEP, which were understood as “collaborative and pedagogical practices that involve the creation, use, and reuse of OER as well as participatory technologies and social networks to interact, learn, create knowledge, and empower learners” (Cronin, 2017). Willison and O’Regan’s (2006/2019) six facets for research skill development were used as a framework to align the desired skills for graduate students with the assignments in the program. The program was designed to support each learner to be an active agent who builds knowledge within the learning process rather than a passive recipient of knowledge. Some argue that when people recognize that open knowledge can be enriched by individual academic experience, they will feel more motivated to know and participate not just as an audience member but as a protagonist (Jordan et al., 2017). As protagonists of their learning, graduate students can become producers instead of consumers of knowledge (Schwartz & Fischer, 2003). In addition, Scardamalia and Bereiter’s (2010) knowledge building in community helps to describe the connections between social interactions, access to resources (content and people), and the participatory and collaborative learning opportunities that develop research skills with OEP. The following research question guided the study: How do open educational practices support the conditions for student learning of research-based skills? Interview and survey data gathered from participants (n = 13) provided evidence that the use of OEP created the conditions for graduate students’ research-based skill development. These students demonstrated how they developed research skills through layered assignments and multiple rounds of peer review, edits, and revisions of their work. Students also engaged in self-reflection and idea-sharing using collaborative online spaces and social media. We identified three key conditions that supported students with their learning, development, and continual improvement of research-based skills: (a) design of layered assignments, (b) formative feedback, and (c) peer learning. Each condition encouraged graduate students to become co-designers of their learning as they developed research skills; this meant having the agency to pursue a topic of personal and professional interest, seek feedback and insights from within and outside the boundaries of their course, and develop an appreciation for the social process of knowledge-building alongside their peers. Students were asked to focus less on content and learning via knowledge borrowing, and more on learning in collaboration with peers, course instructors, and external experts through knowledge building (Schwartz & Fischer, 2003). Using examples from the research study, this presentation will inform participants about how to create high quality, online learning experiences and design conditions that support graduate students in research skill development in post-secondary programs using OEP.
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    Open Educational Practices (OEP): Design-based Research on Expanded High School learning Environments, Spaces, and Experiences
    (2019-09-11) Roberts, Verena; Jacobsen, Michele; Brown, Barbara; Porter, David
    In current K-12 learning contexts, there is much potential for research that examines the expansion of learning beyond formal learning environments and enquiry about how digital networks can support all learners in accessing people, content and ideas that were previously inaccessible. Using a design-based research (DBR) approach, this research examined how high school learners expanded their learning beyond formal learning environments as a result of the teacher implementing an open learning design intervention (OLDI) and designing for open educational practices (OEP). This study builds upon an analysis of existing research on developing open learning practices in K-12 learning environments, describes and evaluates OEP in an existing high school classroom and evaluates the impact of OEP in a high school learning environment to inform broader K-12 OEP design and high school open learning principles. The research participants included 23 high school students and one teacher from the Building Futures high school program. The research occurred through three specific DBR phases with iterative cycles within each phase. Phase 1 included an examination of the current OEP landscape and two design prototypes called learning pathways. Phase 2 included the implementation of two prototype learning pathways. Finally, phase 3 examined and analyzed all data from the four prototype learning pathways which considered the perspectives of all open learning participants and the open learning process. All learning pathway prototypes were designed using the OLDI framework which was revised and updated throughout the research. The data collection included student, teacher and researcher reflections, classroom observations and the Visitor and Resident mapping tool. The key findings from this research suggest that high school open learning is dependent upon the opportunity for learners to co-design personally relevant learning pathways. Secondly, learners need to collaboratively and individually share their learning experiences through feedback loops and by transparently demonstrating their learning in meaningful ways that integrate curriculum and competencies. Finally, open learning occurs through stages and continuums and is a personal learning experience that transcends formal learning environments. This research expands upon current literature and distinguishes itself by emphasizing the process and pedagogical potential of high school open learning
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    Open Educational Practices Create Conditions for Developing Research Skills in Graduate Education
    (Canadian Association of Teacher Education, 2022-12-04) Brown, Barb; Jacobsen, Michele; Roberts, Verena; Hurrell, Christie; Neutzling, Nicole; Travers-Hayward, Mia
    In this chapter, we describe the evaluation of a master’s level program in education that was designed and delivered using open educational practices. Students developed research skills through layered assignments and multiple rounds of peer review, edits, and revisions of their work. Students engaged in self-reflection and idea-sharing using collaborative online spaces and social media. One research question guided this study: How do open educational practices support the conditions for student learning of research-based skills? Interview and survey data gathered from participants in year 1 and year 2 (n = 13) provided evidence that the use of open educational practices (OEP) created the conditions for graduate students’ research-based skill development. We identify three key conditions that supported students with their learning, development, and continual improvement of research-based skills: (a) design of layered assignments, (b) formative feedback, and (c) peer learning. Study findings inform instructors and institutions on open educational practices, specifically how to create high quality, online learning experiences and design conditions that support graduate students in research skill development in post-secondary programs. Study findings contribute to the growing field of open educational practices. Résumé Dans ce chapitre, nous décrivons l’évaluation d’un programme de maîtrise en éducation qui a été conçu et dispensé au recours de pratiques éducatives ouvertes (PEO). Les étudiants ont développé des compétences en recherche grâce à des pratiques d’évaluations échelonnées, d’évaluations en boucle par les pairs, de révisions et de corrections de leur travail. Les étudiants se sont engagés dans l’autoréflexion et le partage d’idées en utilisant des espaces collaboratifs en ligne et les médias sociaux. La question centrale qui a guidé cette étude est de comprendre comment les pratiques éducatives ouvertes soutiennent les conditions d’apprentissage, tout comme les aptitudes à la recherche chez les étudiants aux cycles d’études supérieures? Les données tirées d’entretiens et d’enquêtes recueillies auprès des participants de la première et de la deuxième année (n = 13) d’un programme de maîtrise permettent d’établir que l’utilisation de pratiques éducatives ouvertes crée les conditions nécessaires pour le développement des compétences fondées sur la recherche. Nous identifions trois conditions clés qui soutiennent les étudiants dans l’apprentissage, le développement et l’amélioration continue des compétences basées sur la recherche : (a) la conception de tâches évaluatives conçues par étape (b), la rétroaction formative et (c) l’apprentissage par les pairs. Les résultats d’analyse offrent aux instructeurs et aux établissements postsecondaires des enseignements précieux sur les pratiques éducatives ouvertes. Tout particulièrement, cette étude démontre comment créer des expériences d’apprentissage en ligne de haute qualité et de concevoir des conditions qui soutiennent les étudiants dans le développement des compétences en recherche dans les programmes postsecondaires. Les résultats de cette recherche contribuent ainsi au domaine croissant des pratiques éducatives ouvertes.