GW4 Learning Technology at Bath University | Technoleg Dysgu GW4 ym Mhrifysgol Caerfaddon

by Gethin M. Rowlands & Marianna Majzonova

*Fersiwn Cymraeg isod | Welsh version below*

On a surprisingly sunny Friday morning, we made our way to Bath Spa to join the rest of the Learning Technology teams (and others) of the GW4. With a firm agenda arranged and an appetite to discover what the day had in store, we were very excited to hear what Bath, Bristol and Exeter had been working on since our last GW4 meeting, hosted at Cardiff University before Christmas.

We were also delighted to be joined by Jin Tan, Peter Rayment, Peter Obee, and David Mather. Cardiff University were out in force.

The first session of the day was a quick catch-up from all universities (unfortunately Exeter weren’t present at the meeting, and thus we didn’t receive a catch-up from them). It was interesting to hear the projects other universities had been working on, with many from Bath University that came along to discover more about MOOCs.

The second part focussed on ePortfolios, where we were grouped together to discuss our respective University’s use of an ePortfolio solution, any good practice or ideas we could share, any templates that we found useful and the relationship with suppliers. From Cardiff University’s perspective we talked about the way in which Mahara is being used across the University, the level of support that is offered across Cardiff University (mainly from Peter’s team) and the supporting materials that have been recently created for the Intranet by the CEI.

Bath University also have a license for Mahara, and are using it more so for assessment purposes. It was very interesting and useful to hear their experiences of using Mahara in this way, and the challenges they face that are similar to ours. It is always comforting to hear that other Universities are also facing the same challenges, but also highlights the importance and power of working together. Bristol doesn’t currently use an ePortfolio system, and they are researching their options. They found both ours and Bath’s experiences and insights into Mahara very useful. The discussion around ePortfolios and Mahara will continue.

The next topic on the agenda was MOOCs. There are similarities across all GW4 universities in regards to how we use and create MOOCs. However, we all agreed that we should all share data and statistics from our MOOCs with each other, but also share our success stories, not only with each other, but to raise our Universities’ profiles. We had a very interesting discussion around closed MOOCs, with both ourselves and Bristol noticing the growing interest of creating CPD style courses from professional services (and some academic schools) that is happening internally. There were also some discussion around Preparation or Pre-enrolment courses, and whether a MOOC would be the best option to do this. It was agreed that further research would be needed for this.

Working in groups and hearing about each university’s MOOC projects, we came to realise that we don’t share successful MOOC stories as much as we could. Raising universities profiles and getting greater attendance numbers on future MOOCs are also dependent on the successes of the past courses.

Coincidentally, whilst discussing this topic a tweet from the GW4 Alliance came through about development funding that is available, and talk soon turned to how we could all unite to create a MOOC.

Lunch was quickly devoured, but discussions continued. This was an excellent opportunity to network and find out what other people are working on, and talk about various different projects to those listed on the agenda.

After lunch, the next topic was online assessment. All GW4 universities are using Turnitin and the VLE tests (either Blackboard or Moodle are used by GW4 universities). We highlighted a successful uptake of Turnitin and Feedback Studio, the development of supporting materials, and supporting our academic colleagues with face to face workshops and drop-in sessions.

The last topic we discussed was Learning Analytics, and the general consensus was that we don’t do enough of this in our respective departments. The discussions also alluded to the fact that even though we may be capturing enough data, this may not necessarily be the most relevant data and we don’t do enough with that data once collected. Again, we highlighted how we proceed with working on negative comments to any feedback we may receive, but we don’t do enough with the positive feedback, to celebrate success.

Learning Analytics is an area that has grown in popularity in recent years, and again something the GW4 group may want to investigate further. Cardiff University, together with Centre for Education Innovation, should take pride in what we do. We should tell the world about our success.

Thank you to the guys at Bath University for hosting this GW4 meeting! We look forward to the next one.

Ar fore Gwener syndod o heulog, aethom i Gaerfaddon i ymuno â gweddill y timau Technoleg Dysgu (ac eraill) o GW4. Gydag agenda gadarn wedi’i threfnu ac awydd canfod beth oedd gan y diwrnod i’w gynnig, roeddem yn gyffrous iawn i glywed beth fu Caerfaddon, Bryste a Chaerwysg yn gweithio arno ers ein cyfarfod GW4 diwethaf, a gynhaliwyd ym Mhrifysgol Caerdydd cyn y Nadolig.

Roeddem hefyd yn falch iawn o gael cwmni Jin Tan, Peter Rayment, Peter Obee, a David Mather. Roedd cynrychiolaeth gref yno o Brifysgol Caerdydd.

Roedd sesiwn gyntaf y dydd yn gyfle i glywed diweddariad gan bob prifysgol (yn anffodus nid oedd Caerwysg yn y cyfarfod, felly ni chawsom ddiweddariad ganddynt hwy). Roedd yn ddiddorol clywed y prosiectau y bu prifysgolion eraill yn gweithio arnynt, gyda llawer o Brifysgol Caerfaddon a ddaeth yno i ddarganfod mwy am gyrsiau MOOC.

Gan weithio mewn grwpiau a chlywed am brosiectau MOOC bob prifysgol, daethom i sylweddoli nad ydym yn rhannu straeon MOOC llwyddiannus cymaint ag y dylem. Mae codi proffiliau prifysgolion a chynyddu’r niferoedd sy’n astudio cyrsiau MOOC yn y dyfodol hefyd yn dibynnu ar lwyddiant y cyrsiau diwethaf.

Roedd yr ail ran yn canolbwyntio ar eBortffolios, pan gawsom ein rhoi mewn grwpiau gyda’n gilydd i drafod defnydd ein priod brifysgol o eBortffolio fel ateb, unrhyw arfer da neu syniadau y gallem eu rhannu, unrhyw dempledi oedd o ddefnydd i ni a’r berthynas gyda chyflenwyr. O safbwynt Prifysgol Caerdydd, buom yn siarad am y modd y mae Mahara yn cael ei ddefnyddio ar draws y Brifysgol, lefel y gefnogaeth a gynigir ar draws Prifysgol Caerdydd (yn bennaf gan dîm Peter) a’r deunyddiau cefnogi a grëwyd yn ddiweddar ar gyfer y fewnrwyd gan y Ganolfan Arloesedd Addysg.

Mae gan Brifysgol Caerfaddon hefyd drwydded ar gyfer Mahara, ac maent yn ei defnyddio’n fwyfwy at ddibenion asesu. Roedd yn ddiddorol ac yn ddefnyddiol iawn clywed am eu profiadau o ddefnyddio Mahara yn y modd hwn, a’r heriau a wynebir ganddynt sy’n debyg i’n rhai ni. Mae’n gysur clywed bob amser bod Prifysgolion eraill yn wynebu’r un heriau, ond mae hynny hefyd yn amlygu’r pwysigrwydd a’r cryfder o gydweithio. Nid yw Bryste yn defnyddio system eBortffolio ar hyn o bryd, ac maent yn archwilio’r opsiynau sy’n agored iddynt. Roeddynt yn teimlo bod ein profiadau ni o Mahara – a’r wybodaeth y gwnaethom ei rhoi – yn ddefnyddiol iawn. Bydd y drafodaeth ynghylch eBortffolios a Mahara yn parhau.

Cyrsiau MOOC oedd y pwnc nesaf ar yr agenda. Mae elfennau sy’n gyffredin ar draws holl brifysgolion GW4 o ran y modd rydym yn defnyddio a chreu MOOCau. Fodd bynnag, gwnaethom oll gytuno y dylem rannu data ac ystadegau gan ein cyrsiau MOOC gyda’n gilydd, yn ogystal â rannu straeon ynghylch ein llwyddiant, nid yn unig â’i gilydd, ond er mwyn codi proffiliau ein prifysgolion. Cawsom drafodaeth ddiddorol iawn ynghylch cyrsiau MOOC caeedig, ac fe wnaethom ni a Phrifysgol Bryste nodi ar y diddordeb cynyddol ymhlith gwasanaethau proffesiynol (a rhai ysgolion academaidd) o greu cyrsiau DPP o’r fath yn fewnol. Yn ogystal, bu rhywfaint o drafodaeth ynghylch cyrsiau paratoi neu gyrsiau cyn-cofrestru, ac ai MOOC fyddai’r dewis gorau ar gyfer gwneud hynny. Cytunwyd y byddai angen rhagor o ymchwil i hyn.

Drwy gyd-ddigwyddiad, wrth drafod y pwnc hwn, anfonwyd neges Drydar gan Gynghrair GW4 ynghylch cyllid ar gyfer datblygu sydd ar gael, a buan iawn y trodd y drafodaeth i sut y gallem oll uno i greu MOOC.

Ar ôl cinio cyflym, parhaodd y trafodaethau. Roedd hwn yn gyfle gwych i rwydweithio a dod i wybod beth mae pobl eraill yn gweithio arnynt a sôn am amrywiaeth o brosiectau gwahanol i’r rhai a restrir ar yr agenda.

Asesu ar-lein oedd y pwnc trafod nesaf ar ôl cinio. Mae holl brifysgolion GW4 defnyddio Turnitin a phrofion VLE (naill ai Blackboard neu Moodle a ddefnyddir gan brifysgolion GW4). Gwnaethom amlygu defnydd mwy helaeth a mwy llwyddiannus o Turnitin a Feedback Studio, datblygu deunyddiau ategol, a chefnogi ein cydweithwyr academaidd gyda gweithdai wyneb yn wyneb a sesiynau galw heibio.

Y pwnc olaf a drafodwyd gennym oedd Learning Analytics, a chytunwyd yn gyffredinol nad ydym yn gwneud digon o hyn yn ein priod adrannau. Cyfeiriodd y trafodaethau hefyd at y ffaith, er ein bod – o bosibl – yn casglu digon o ddata, efallai nad hwn yw’r data mwyaf perthnasol, o reidrwydd, ac nid ydym yn gwneud digon â’r data yma ar ôl ei gasglu. Unwaith eto, fe wnaethom dynnu sylw at sut rydym yn ymateb i sylwadau negyddol mewn unrhyw adborth a gawn, ond nid ydym yn gwneud digon â’r adborth cadarnhaol, i ddathlu llwyddiant.

Mae Learning Analytics yn faes sydd wedi tyfu mewn poblogrwydd dros y blynyddoedd diwethaf, ac eto’n rhywbeth yr hoffai grŵp GW4, o bosibl, ymchwilio ymhellach iddo. Dylai Prifysgol Caerdydd, ynghyd â’r Ganolfan Arloesedd Addysg, ymfalchïo yn yr hyn a wnawn. Dylem roi gwybod i’r byd am ein llwyddiant.

Diolch i bawb ym Mhrifysgol Caerfaddon a gynhaliodd y cyfarfod GW4 hwn! Edrychwn ymlaen at yr un nesaf.