Wilma Strang

6.3 Supporting to liberate can it be done?

Wilma Strang
From Empowering Teachers and Learners through Technology. SEDA Paper 90, 1995. Reproduced with permission.

Introduction

Based on the experience of the Hypertext Support Unit (HSU) at the University of Kent, this chapter addresses the twin issues of support and liberation. It considers how staff can benefit from being supported in

1. choosing appropriate learning technology
2. accessing the technology
3. using the technology with confidence
4. working in both local and distributed environments
5. detailing further appropriate support requirements in order that they are liberated from anxieties engendered by the practical use of learning technology and can thus take advantage of the liberating effects of new learning technology itself.

The hypertext campus project

The Hypertext Campus project began at the University of Kent (UKC) in October 1992, as a Phase I project under the HEFCE's Teaching and Learning Technology Programme TLTP). The aim of the project is to promote the pervasive use of hypertext in teaching and learning across the campus at UKC. To this end, HSU was formed as a full-time learning technology support unit, comprising four members of staff, all with computing qualifications and all with experience of teaching and of staff development. It became clear early in the project that the work of HSU could not be exclusively confined to hypertext or hypermedia related materials. Project staff and management became aware that support was needed not just for leading edge technologies, but for a whole range of technologies which might form the basis of an involvement in learning technology for any number of members of academic staff.

Contrary to much popular perception, the experience of HSU suggests that academic staff, in the University of Kent at least, are very keen to use computers in their teaching. The 'not invented here' myth has already been exploded [JISC 1992] and the work of the HSU can give some foundation to the claim that far from being opposed to the introduction of learning technology, most lecturers can see some potential for the use of computers in their teaching, and would like, at least, to find out more about what is available and how to use it.

Interest, however, is not enough. The obvious constraints of time militate against any casual drift into the use of learning technology, except for those to whom the computer itself is a source of delight and exploration. Most lecturers do not view technology in this way. To say that they are 'technophobic' might indeed grossly overstate the case, but certainly they have little incentive to explore the area, for many reasons which need not be rehearsed here, and will certainly be most unlikely to do so without some form of reliable, approachable and accessible support.

The use of learning technology - from simple email to multimedia distributed across networks generates many possibilities in terms of adoption and/or adaptation of recognised teaching styles, suiting them to students ' individual learning styles or simply to encouraging andragogical approaches and responses. Much more immediately, however, it generates a series of needs. It is these needs which can be translated into requirements for support. Both staff and students can become extremely anxious when faced with the idea of using technology as an innovative teaching and learning tool. Only after they are liberated from these anxieties, when their needs for meaningful and consistent support in this respect are met, can they fully explore the liberating possibilities of technology for use in teaching and learning.

Empowering staff to use the technology

Laurillard warns that when teachers want students to use new technology as part of a course -". . . teachers' attitudes, other course teaching, scheduling, logistics, administration, briefing and debriefing, technical and academic support, and student assessment, must all be conducive to enabling students to use the new technology to the full. If they are not, it will fail, no matter how good the material." [Laurillard 1993]

The experience of HSU, working in the Hypertext Campus Project, is that a fairly consistent set of support requirements can be drawn up. Academic staff benefit from being able rely upon this support in order to be able to make decisions about whether or not to use learning technology in their teaching and to be able to contextualise it as Laurillard suggests is necessary.

Clearly, some lecturers are more than able to resolve implications in this area, but HSU in the main has dealt with staff completely new to the use of learning technology, and it is the provision of support for them which is outlined below. Thus, to lay the foundations for using learning technology, HSU has provided support in the following areas

a. Choosing appropriate technology

Subject specific uses of learning technology are becoming more and more widely known about through initiatives like TLTP and ITTI (Information Technology Training Initiative). Software demonstrations are now common at conferences, reports and papers are appearing in journals. Lecturers can benefit from being able to discuss ideas they may have about using material they have seen, with local computing professionals in a support role who can advise them realistically about what is and is not possible within the computing set up which prevails at their institutions. Above all, lecturers must be able to have confidence in the responses and advice given by such support staff. In addition, support staff can take on the role of searching out what might be appropriate software and passing on information about this to members of staff. This kind of support is less likely to occur in situations where 'support' is not a mainstream activity.

b. Accessing the technology

Lecturers need to be able to discuss how and where they and their students can use learning technology and tailor their ideas about possible learning environments to what is realistically possible within the constraints of equipment configurations available. This issue needs to be addressed very early in the lead in period to any use of learning technology, since the equipment configuration available - one machine or many machines, easy to book appropriate rooms or impossible to book appropriate rooms - will have a far reaching effect on the way in which the learning environment should be planned and handled.

c. Using the technology with confidence

Lecturers can benefit from being able to rely on support staff to work with them on developing the learning environment they want to provide for their students. HSU has worked with staff requesting or requiring help in -

1. technical testing and investigation of teaching and learning software, to highlight any potential problems in the proposed use.
2. the provision of training sessions in using appropriate software often particularly important in the context of authoring ' shell ' tools e.g. the Poetry Shell but clearly crucial to ensuring confidence in a variety of areas e.g. hypertext authoring, use of networked resources, etc. Here the emphasis is not on the transmission of knowledge, but rather on the creation of a supportive environment in which the member of staff can explore and discuss the potential of the technology with a co-operative and supportive member of support staff.
3. support for the development of original materials. Within the Hypertext Campus Project, a number of original applications have been developed - in Fortran, in Spanish, in Law, in Student Learning Skills and in Careers Information and Advice. In an cases, the member of staff who initiated the development has played a major role as an author, but with support at many levels from HSU staff. In addition, HSU has helped staff who want to apply for curriculum development or other grants, working with them to write appropriate bids, checked for technical accuracy and realisable goals.

d. Working in both local and distributed environments

One of the major areas of difficulty for staff using learning technology is that engendered by the possibilities of making learning applications available across networks, in a distributed environment. Although ". . . much CBL is either not formally distributed or, where it is distributed, floppy disks are still the most common media used . . . [there] is growing recognition of the opportunities for electronic distribution" [McAndrew 1994]. Clearly, there are major advantages in working in a distributed environment. Some relate directly to learning issues such as the possibility of making material available to students at all times, and thus have a direct impact on teaching and learning styles. Others relate to the ease of transfer, acquisition and distribution of materials and information. In either case, lecturers need to become familiar with the implications and possibilities of working in a distributed environment, and here again support staff can help by offering advice and training related to specific needs.

e. Detailing appropriate support requirements

Even when lecturers reach a stage of deciding, on the basis described above, to experiment with using some form of learning technology, it has proved important that they feel able to request further support in the actual implementation of the computing application they plan to use. Some lecturers want technical support in the classroom itself. Others want preliminary classes for students in how to access and manipulate materials. Others want help with evaluation techniques for the use of teaching and learning software. All of these HSU has been able to provide.

In addition, however, it has become clear that appropriate support at the early stages described above, can lead to autonomous use of learning technology by academic staff. As a recent example, support offered by HSU in working with the World Wide Web, led to demands from staff for training in using the Web (over 100 members of staff now trained at this level) and to further demands from many of those who had been trained, for support in the setting up and running of local, discipline based WWW services. Empowering staff to use learning technology does not necessarily mean reaching a situation where staff do not need technical or expert help. Rather it means that staff come to know what support they want and need to be able to achieve the teaching and learning goals which learning technology makes possible.

Staffing the support role

Clearly, where support staff have the job of working with lecturers, to achieve a common goal in investigating the use of learning technology within specific subject areas, the skills and experience of the support staff themselves need to be an important mix of technical ability and understanding, with excellent communication and staff development skills. In a recent presentation [Strang 1994], it was suggested that suitable candidates for work in support roles should be experienced in as wide a selection as possible of the following skill areas

have considerable experience in and confidence with PCs, Macs, Unix, the Internet (esp. WWW), ftp etc.

be able to use and support and possibly train users in Windows, X Windows, Guide, Authorware, Toolbook, Microcosm, Iconauthor, Hypercard ....

be familiar with PCNFS and Novell and able to mount and maintain applications software in these distributed environments (including multimedia applications)

be good communicators at all levels

be able to provide immediate and effective telephone and one-to-one consultancy for staff as and when required

be confident about providing classroom support

be experienced information providers/disseminators (experience of setting up workshops/conferences would be an advantage)

be committed to supporting staff (experience in staff development would be an advantage)

be capable of providing technical and other appropriate information to help staff in the writing of bids for funds from Curriculum Development and/or other equivalent sources

be part of, or be able to establish excellent links with, the Computing Service or equivalent hardware and software management providers.

Such a list of requirements is certainly not exhaustive and gives a clear indication of the many possible areas in which support staff might be required to operate with confidence. Clearly, the appointment of, or allocation of support responsibility to a group of support staff, as opposed to isolated individuals, is one way of addressing this issue.

Using the technology to liberate students

The arguments for using learning technology are many and varied, and are discussed elsewhere in this volume. Work done by lecturers at the University of Kent with HSU has shown that the use of hypertext techniques for the presentation of learning material can encourage active learning by giving learners appropriate and stimulating resource material and encouraging them to make their own connections and analysis. Hypertext techniques can encourage students to follow links and to see and talk about connections themselves. Hypertext also affords the possibility of offering computer based learning material that is clearly relevant to current learning goals. In a hyperdocument, students need only follow those links which are of direct interest to them in their work. If it is desirable that they look further, then suitable assignments requiring them to explore the hyperdocument in depth can be set. In addition, hyperdocuments can be tailored to meet the needs of individual students or student groups. For example, links to more complex or difficult material can be edited out for students at an elementary level in a course.

Confidence in handling this kind of learning technology, from the point of view of author or adaptor, and confidence in those other technologies which provide such a rich source of possibilities for teaching and learning - email, electronic discussion groups, computer supported collaborative work, the World Wide Web and others - will be a key factor in the decision of lecturers to use learning technology with their students. It is suggested that a crucial factor in the promotion of that confidence in lecturers can be the quality of support which is available to them. In many institutions, there are willing and able staff who perform this role with that high degree of altruism which is the mark of the true staff developer. In many cases, however, this support is in addition to a more mainstream technical or other responsibility. The experience of the Hypertext Campus Project at the University of Kent has shown that support staff specifically appointed to fulfill a support role, for whom that role is their main activity, can help create a climate of confidence in the use of learning technology. What seems to be vital, is that support staff themselves are able to work with both academic lecturers and with more mainstream technical staff and have the ability to act as an interface between them, to achieve mutually acceptable solutions to the technical problems of introducing learning technology into the curriculum. Once those have been achieved, lecturers are able to concentrate on the liberating aspects of the technology and the potential its use offers in the creation of new and appropriate learning environments for their students.

Wilma Strang did an MA in English and Drama at Glasgow University, and worked as an actress for a number of years, before coming into the lecturing profession. Her experience of, and enthusiasm for, the use of computers in teaching and learning dates back to the early 80s, and led her to an MEd in Curriculum Studies and Computer Education from the University of Wales and an MSc in Computer Science from the University of Kent. Her major interest is in making it as easy as possible for staff to be able to use computers in whatever way they consider best for themselves and their students.