JISC final report template - University of Wolverhampton to Teach Inclusively... · Web viewThe...

Project Identifier: Learning to Teach InclusivelyVersion: FINAL REPORT Contact: Christine HockingsDate: 22nd August 2011

The Higher Education Academy (HEA)/JISC Final Report

Project InformationProject Identifier To be completed by HEA/JISCProject Title Learning to Teach InclusivelyProject HashtagStart Date End Date 31st August 2011Lead Institution University of WolverhamptonProject Director Professor Christine HockingsProject Manager Professor Christine HockingsContact email [email protected] Institutions NoneProject Web URL www.wlv.ac.uk/teachinclusivelyProgramme Name OER Phase ll OMACProgramme Manager Jo Masterton

Document InformationAuthor(s) Professor Christine HockingsProject Role(s) Project DirectorDate 22nd August 2011 Filename Learning to Teach Inclusively -

OER_PhaseTwo_FINAL REPORT 22nd Aug 2011.doc

URLAccess This report is for general dissemination

Document HistoryVersion Date Comments

DRAFT FINAL 20th June Learning to Teach Inclusively - OER_PhaseTwo_DRAFT Final_Report.doc

of 30Document title: FINAL REPORT Last updated: 22 August 2011 - v1

http://www.wlv.ac.uk/teachinclusively

mailto:[email protected]

Project Identifier: Version:Contact:Date:

Table of Contents

1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.......................................................................................................................... 3

2 PROJECT SUMMARY.............................................................................................................................. 3

3 MAIN BODY OF REPORT........................................................................................................................ 4

3.1 PROJECT OUTPUTS AND OUTCOMES..............................................................................................................43.2 HOW DID YOU GO ABOUT ACHIEVING YOUR OUTPUTS / OUTCOMES?....................................................................53.3 WHAT DID YOU LEARN?...............................................................................................................................93.4 IMMEDIATE IMPACT..................................................................................................................................133.5 FUTURE IMPACT.......................................................................................................................................15

4 CONCLUSIONS..................................................................................................................................... 16

5 RECOMMENDATIONS.......................................................................................................................... 16

6 IMPLICATIONS FOR THE FUTURE..........................................................................................................17

7 REFERENCES........................................................................................................................................ 18

8 APPENDICES (OPTIONAL)..................................................................................................................... 18

Document title: HEA/JISC Final Report TemplateLast updated: May 2011 – v1

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1 AcknowledgementsThis is one of several projects funded under the HEA / JISC funded programme OER phase 2. The purpose of this initiative was the development open resources for Academy accredited

professional development programmes or schemes for teachers of higher education. This strand of

development is abbreviated to OMAC.

We wish to acknowledge the support and guidance of our advisory group members Professor Liz

Thomas, Dr Christine Smith, Christa Appleton and Dr Helen Gale, and of our external evaluator Dr

Chrissi Narantzi. In addition, we would like to thank the numerous colleagues who have reviewed

the resources and given critical feedback. Most crucially we are indebted to the members of staff

and students who appear in the video clips, whose contribution has been invaluable and whose

input has enriched this open educational resource.

Project Summary

The context

The demand for teaching and learning environments that are capable of securing high

achievement among diverse student bodies is becoming increasingly critical for the sector in the

light of the following drivers:

1) the coalition government’s requirement on institutions planning to charge more than £6000

in tuition fees to demonstrate their commitment to widening access;

2) the recognition of a degree attainment gap affecting black ethnic minority and male

students (Broecke & Nichols 2007);

3) the introduction of the Equality Act 2010 that sharpens focus on treatment of protected

categories in HE;

4) the proposed revisions to the UK Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF) for HE

emphasising the need for HE teachers to demonstrate ‘commitment to and respect for both

individual learners and diverse learning communities’ (HEA 2010).

The problem

In response to these drivers, many universities are now reviewing teaching and learning policy and

considering the implications of student diversity on pedagogic practice. However, there is a

concern amongst some academic development practitioners that the professional skills and values

associated with teaching diverse students are not well understood in the sector and that academic

development programmes could do more to develop these.

A solution Document title: HEA/JISC Final Report TemplateLast updated: May 2011 – v1

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Our solution to this problem was to develop an open and accessible on line module for the sector,

based on the research findings arising from projects previously funded by HEA, HEFCE and the

ESRC, to support the development of inclusive learning and teaching practice in higher education.

A key feature (and an innovation) of this module is the use of original video clips of authentic

classroom practice to illustrate principles in practice and to provoke discussion around inclusive

learning and teaching issues. This package can be downloaded in part or in full, repurposed and

reused by academic developers and embedded into existing academic development programmes

or tailored to suit identified training and development needs.

2 Main Body of Report

2.1 Project Outputs and Outcomes

Output / Outcome

Type

Brief Description and URLs (where applicable)

Content / Learning Materials

Learning to Teach Inclusively module.

This is available via the University of Wolverhampton website:http://wlv.ac.uk/LTImodule

or via the Open University LabSpace:http://labspace.open.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=6224

Or via Jorum: https://dspace.jorum.ac.uk/xmlui/browse?value=University+of+Wolverhampton&type=author

Two of the three units with the OER module are fully complete. As at 22nd August, Unit 3 is 90% complete. These units include:

course notes and materials on line tasks and activities assessment tasks and criteria reading lists and web links image, video clips and other multimedia resources supporting materials from lectures & workshops help pages, tutorials and module documentation

Production of over 100 video clips of authentic inclusive practice and interviews with staff and students. They are grouped by subject but can be searched according to meaningful tags/ labels. Each group of clips is provided with contextual background information to assist the user

To preview a selection see http://vimeo.com/oer/videosTo download the video clips in original quality go to the Jorum repository:http://resources.jorum.ac.uk/xmlui/browse?value=inclusive+teaching&type=subject

Marketing materials and information

Production of two different sets of project flyers for dissemination at conferences and user engagements events.

End of Project Conference flyer plus complimentary DVD containing the module download and repurposing guide and video.


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http://resources.jorum.ac.uk/xmlui/browse?value=inclusive+teaching&type=subject

http://vimeo.com/oer/videos

https://dspace.jorum.ac.uk/xmlui/browse?value=University+of+Wolverhampton&type=author

https://dspace.jorum.ac.uk/xmlui/browse?value=University+of+Wolverhampton&type=author

http://labspace.open.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=6224

http://wlv.ac.uk/LTImodule


Production of a short video about the module for use at HEA conference kiosk stand.

Internal dissemination and user engagement

Development meetings with PG Cert award leader and team to embed the module into newly validated PG Cert in Academic Practice to commence September 2011.

Associate Dean’s away Day on Distance Learning – work in progress presentation 23rd Feb, Somerford House

University of Wolverhampton Vice Chancellor (retired August 2011) Caroline Gipps visit to ILE – presentation of project and demo of module

External dissemination and user engagement

Paper presentation - OER Conference, Manchester (May 2011)

Invited workshop – Higher Education Academy Developing Inclusive Cultures Programme. Residential, Leeds (May 2011) http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/York/documents/ourwork/inclusion/Chris_Hockings_Disciplines_workshop.ppt

Invited seminar - Open University Centre for Inclusion and Curriculum. (May 2011)

Invited workshop – Sheffield Hallam University (May 2011. Web casted at http://www.slideshare.net/viscabarca/c-hockings-workshop-shu-may-2011)

Invited key note – University of Bath Directors of Study Residential on Widening Participation (May 2011)

Invited keynote – Annual L&T Conference London Metropolitan University (June 2011)

Workshop - HEA Annual Conference (July 2011)

Workshop – SEDA Annual Conference (Forthcoming, November)

End of Project Conference and Launch of Module (Forthcoming, September 20th)(50 delegates registered)

Reports Interim report to HEA. Reviewed by Steering Committee prior to submission. Feedback positive.

Draft Final Report to HEA 20th June. Reviewed by Steering Group and External Evaluator. Discussed at Steering Group meeting 13th July.

Research output

Abstract submitted to Distance Education in response to call for Special Issue: Fostering social inclusion through open educational resources (OER).(Volume 33, Issue 2, 2012). Outcome expected end August 2011.

Bid for follow on funding - Submission of a bid to ESRC (c£100,000) for embedding and sustaining use and impact of inclusive L&T using the module developed in this OER OMAC project. Outcome expected November 2011.

2.2 How did you go about achieving your outputs / outcomes?2.2.1 Key outputs


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http://www.slideshare.net/viscabarca/c-hockings-workshop-shu-may-2011

https://exch.wlv.ac.uk/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/York/documents/ourwork/inclusion/Chris_Hockings_Disciplines_workshop.ppt

https://exch.wlv.ac.uk/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/York/documents/ourwork/inclusion/Chris_Hockings_Disciplines_workshop.ppt


1. A 30 credit module of 300 post graduate study hours focusing on key aspects of inclusive

learning and teaching. It comprises three units of study that may be stand alone or taken in

combination with other units or as the whole module. Each unit contains teaching, learning

and assessment materials, references and resources. The module also contains a set of

how to guides for downloading and repurposing the package.

2. A repository of video clips from teaching sessions, scenarios illustrating principles of

inclusive L&T practice, student and teacher interviews, etc. All videos have been quality

assured by the project team, sensitively edited, ethically cleared, subtitled, tagged,

assembled and, where relevant, embedded within the module units. The full set of videos

are available from Jorum from September 2011.

3. A series of dissemination and user engagement events (as listed in 2.1. above)

4. Submission of one peer reviewed journal article or special issue paper and one practitioner

focused article (in production)

In the next section I focus on the ways in which we achieved the first three of these outputs.

2.2.2. Module development

We decided to create three units within the module to focus on specific aspects of inclusive

learning and teaching (Inclusive Curriculum and Assessment, Inclusive Pedagogy, and Managing

and Researching the Inclusive Institution). Much of the module content was based on ESRC

research (See Learning and Teaching for Social Diversity and Difference in HE

(http://www.wlv.ac.uk/teaching4diversity) and a synthesis of the research on inclusive learning and

teaching (Hockings, 2010) so my task was to select from this appropriate materials and re write

them as user friendly, practical and useable, interactive ‘distance learning’ materials. I used

PowerPoint to set out what I wanted each screen to look like and where text, video, images and

activities were to appear. Our technical and creative designer, Matt Terentjevs, then used these

PowerPoint ‘mock ups’ to create the content and activities in Xerte.

We chose to develop the module within Xerte because it offered excellent accessibility features

and an attractive user interface. The module is hosted with the Open University’s Open Learn Lab

Space. This provides an open access platform but we have also since made the module available

through our own institutional website project page.

Once we had set up the first unit, we made a number of revisions to the unit structure, content and

activities. For example, I wanted to create an activity that required the participant to drag one of a

number of labels and drop it on the ‘correct’ video clip. This was to heighten the participants’

observation and awareness of some aspect of inclusive practice. The standard Xerte on line

template allowed drag and drop to static images but not to several different moving images. This

required us to use our own knowledge of Action Script to make some changes to the code in the


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Xerte interface. However, on the whole most revisions were straightforward typos, text changes or

repositioning of images and videos.

The first unit took many months of development because we were experimenting with designs,

styles and formatting and learning what we could do with Xerte and Lab Space. We were

continually making improvements and testing out new ideas that then meant we had to go back to

revise earlier designs. Having decided on a standard format, the production of subsequent units

has been much quicker.

2.2.3. Video production

All videos used in the module were produced in house for this project. Our task was to identify and

video authentic teaching sessions in which one or more of the principles of inclusive practice would

be demonstrated. We worked with university lecturers across a range of subjects whose practice

had been identified by staff and students as inclusive and engaging. Additional volunteer lecturers

were recruited from the PG Cert in HE programme and from recruitment briefings at departmental

meetings. We were keen to get a spread of subject representation and that meant that we had to

disappoint some staff who had volunteered. We were a little disappointed that some subjects were

underrepresented (e.g. Engineering) but this was due to timing and workload issues rather than

lack of interest. We hope to continue to work with these colleagues and film their sessions in

future. We were impressed by the openness and generosity of the teachers who volunteered for

this project. They gave up their time freely for this and went to additional lengths to ensure that the

students were not disturbed by it. They were prepared to do this because they felt it would help

them and others improve their practice. There was no other incentive offered.

Once we had discussed and established the extent to which the proposed sessions met our criteria

for inclusive practice, a pre video observation was carried out. These pre video sessions enabled

the team to introduce themselves and the project to the students, obtain their written consent for

videoing, assess the physical environment for the most effective and discrete camera positions,

and to offer feedback to the teacher. Very often the teachers made pedagogical changes to their

sessions in advance of our filming, based on this feedback. During filming, the focus would

change from students to teacher according to the activities but in all cases our intention was to

capture incidents and interaction that demonstrated principles of inclusive practice. For example, in

one session we wanted to film the interaction between students working on a small group exercise.

We placed a small remote microphone on the desk where they were working so that we could pick

up their discussions. This group of four students were culturally and linguistically diverse, one of

whom is deaf, supported by a BSL interpreter and a note taker. In another session in Gymnastics,

we needed two technicians to record small group and paired discussions whilst recording complex

gymnastics movement. One of our areas of interest in this session was the integration of a

physically disabled student in the mainstream activities. The processes of building relationships


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with participants, gaining their trust, as well as working on pedagogical and logistical issues were

crucial to the outcome of the project and should not be underestimated.

Over the course of the project we have videoed sessions in Business, Digital Media, Law,

Mathematics, Religious Studies, Pharmacy, Sociology, Social Work and Sport. We have videoed

interviews with the teachers and some of the students in these sessions. In addition, we recorded

staff development sessions on Deaf Awareness and interviews with leading researchers in the

area of equality and diversity. In all cases DVD copies were made for those involved and in most

cases the teachers invited me to discuss their sessions with them once they had re viewed them.

These opportunities proved to be mutually rewarding and developmental.

I found it really useful to have the opportunity to speak frankly with some of my students and to learn directly from them which of the techniques I use they find the most useful. I enjoyed reflecting upon what I do and I like the fact that following reflection I am always finding ways to tweak and improve my practice and keep it fresh for student... It was good to learn from the note taker and interpreter… I’m looking forward to seeing the extracts of other teachers in action. (Tracy McCoy, Lecturer).

I learned from watching the video of myself that I tend not to finish off all my sentences, as if I assume they know what I was going to say, so I move on to the next point. After nearly 30 years of teaching I never realised that I did this!... (Dave Wilkinson, Lecturer).

Due to the length of the majority of the recordings (in many cases over two hours), a major task

was the selection of appropriate and relevant clips. A two hour recording would take on average a

whole day to review, select clips, mark the time codes and assign a ‘principle’ or set of meaningful

tags for later identification. The clips were then transcribed and subtitled. This could take several

days work depending on the length and clarity of the clips. These were then checked for typos and

given appropriate file names and tags. The final clips were then made available on Vimeo for user

feedback before they were transferred with their contextual data to Jorum. The clips on Jorum will

contain additional contextual information. This was not felt necessary at the outset but when we

invited comments on the clips from our website blog, a number of reviewers requested such

information. See also Section 2.3.3 Lessons from initial user evaluation of video clips.

2.2.4. Dissemination and user engagement

At the early stages of the project we identified three conferences to disseminate to different

audiences. The OER conference in Manchester obviously targeted those with an interest in OER

and the technical aspects of the project, the HEA annual conference would attract potential users

(teachers and support staff) as well as academic developers, the SEDA conference would target

academic developers.

In addition to these, I received a number of invitations to talk about or run workshops on inclusive

learning and teaching both in the UK and Australia. I used these opportunities to promote the

project, show our work-in-progress, and encourage user engagement in the development.


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Delegates at these events were invited to participate in reviewing the materials and module.

Following these events the number of ‘unique visitors’ to the module increased. Glossy flyers were

also produced and disseminated at these events and more recently a short video giving a

demonstration of the features of the module has been produced and will be shown on the JISC

kiosk stand at the HEA conference. Finally, an end of project conference has been organised at

Wolverhampton Science Park on 20th September with currently over 50 delegates registered, over

half of whom are external. (See link for further information about the conference

http://www.wlv.ac.uk/Default.aspx?page=26713)

2.3 What did you learn?2.3.1 Lessons from OER technical development

Through the development of the module, the technical team have acquired and developed a whole

range of knowledge, skills and capabilities. These include:

Sharing and distributing educational resources, ways and places to share - OpenJorum,

LabSpace, iTunes U-Learn, YouTube Edu.,etc.

Developing ways of making things more accessible and easy to use and re-use for

everyone.

Mixing different types of materials (text, sounds, video, etc.) into one 'package'

IPR - how to observe and respect them

Exploring the capabilities of Xerte for creating interactive content with Flash and simple

ActionScript programming. For example, extending the drag and drop function for use with

video rather than simply static images.

Development of web content to enable user to communicate using forums, blogs and

journals. For example, we wanted a forum facility within the module so that participants

could share their ideas and discuss issues on line. Several activities were set up with this

sort of interaction in mind. At the time of development, there was no such facility within

Xerte and we were not satisfied that our use of Lab Space’s ‘learning journal’ as a forum

was sufficiently smooth and seamless for users. We felt this could inhibit its use. However,

we have now managed to create a web based forum and embed it within Xerte. This is

now seamless and more user friendly.

2.3.2. Lessons from working with university teachers

A key outcome from this project has been the opportunity to work closely with and learn from

university teachers in a range of subjects about the ways in which they academically engage their

diverse students. Pre and post observation meetings with teachers, students and in some cases

student support staff, provided the opportunity to think about inclusive practice within different

contexts and from different perspectives. Discussions with staff not only led to changes in their


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practice, they also challenged our thinking, as researchers and academic developers, around

inclusive practice.

2.3.3. Lessons from initial user evaluation of video clips

Content and purpose of video clips

We enlisted the help of Professor Healy who carried out some initial user testing of a small

selection of the video clips. He ran a number of workshops in the universities including Coventry,

Dundee, Edinburgh and Utrecht in subjects including Education, Pharmacy, Social Work and

Sociology, using the clips to illustrate inclusive practice and to stimulate discussion. Delegates in

these sessions fed back their impressions of the clips which he summarised as follows:

It was thought essential that greater context was given to the sessions and greater guidance was given as to what the clips were meant to illustrate e.g. might say that that the clips are not set up to illustrate best practice, rather that the clips are shown to stimulate discussion about what is appropriate and inappropriate practice in different contexts.. I would like to continue to use particularly the Business Studies clip as this raises several issues and stimulated an interesting discussion with different viewpoints being expressed. (Professor Mick Healy, University of Gloucester)

Whilst there was positive evaluation of the developmental potential of the video clips, there was

some criticism of the practice illustrated in one or two. It must be said that not all of the clips show

inclusive practice. In some instances the teachers themselves were the first to notice this.

However, these clips are very valuable. They are not only authentic, they trigger discussion. By

scrutinising others’ practice, warts and all, we can reflect on our own approaches and identify

areas for improvement. Until now, there has not been a body of authentic video resources such as

these that are widely available for use as triggers to do this. We believe that the teachers in this

project have made a huge contribution to the development of the field of inclusive practice, the

development of others teachers and, ultimately, the development of students’ learning.

Reviewers also led us to rethink our strategy of depositing the clips with just metadata tags.

We had not anticipated the need for additional contextual information because we did not

want to lead users to a particular conclusion. We wanted users to analyse and critique the

practice in the clips and draw their own conclusions. Many, we felt would speak for

themselves. However, we decided to write a brief outline of the sessions from which the

videos were taken and highlight the key issues or principles so that users would view the

clips with an ‘inclusive eye’.

Technical quality and production of videos

This initial feedback on a small number of test clips had also been very helpful in identifying

some technical issues, such as variable sound levels between clips, typos in subtitles and

quality of the images generally. This has helped us to make quality improvements across

the whole set of clips.


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Feedback from a small number of video clip reviewers highlighted the variability of sound quality of

the classroom session video clips. There was clearly a difference in volume between the teachers

and students such that it was sometimes difficult to hear the students. This was because the

teachers wore radio microphones whilst the students’ voices could only be captured by placing

radio microphones as near as possible to them as they spoke. We were particularly sensitive to

the fact that these were real teaching and learning sessions. We went to great lengths to minimise

any disruption to the learning and teaching process and to capture the normal behaviour of

students and staff. We moved the microphones around the room as discretely as possible but not

when it would have created too much disturbance. This was crucial to ensure that students and

staff did not change what they did or said because of our presence. Following the recording of one

mathematics session, the lecturer e mailed to say:

I was quite surprised at how easily the students appeared to put out of their minds the fact that they were being filmed – they appeared to do their working in groups and presenting their solutions in exactly the same way as in other weeks… I don't think this had any negative effect on the learning experience, and feel that it was all a very worthwhile exercise both for me and for the students. I have shown the video to the students and they obviously enjoyed watching it! (Dave Wilkinson, Lecturer).

So whilst there was some loss in sound quality and some of the videos are not of polished, TV

quality, they do faithfully represent the messiness of the real world (see also Appendix for External

Evaluator’s report) and provide authenticity. We took the view that any loss of sound quality would

be more than compensated by the addition of subtitles, that also served to reinforce the inclusive

principle of universal design i.e. subtitles help all users.

We are convinced that overall these clips will be used by the sector for a wide range of purposes.

Already we are receiving feedback on how they are being used (see section 2.4 Immediate

impact).

2.3.4. Lessons from module testing

Steering Group feedback

Throughout the project the Steering Group chaired by the PGCert in HE Award Leader has been

monitoring the development of the materials and module content with regard to their relevance to

the programme and to the wider sector. Their feedback was reassuringly positive in all aspects.

However, their main concern was the reusability of the package given that it has been developed

as a whole. There was some discussion as to how technically competent a user would need to be

in order to fragment, reuse and repurpose each component. With this in mind we have produced

user guides that step through the download and repurposing options. These include short video

tutorials.


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Student Union feedback

We also enlisted the help of a number of officers of the University of Wolverhampton’s Students’

Union (SU) to review and evaluate the content and activities from a student perspective. They

highlighted issues we had skimmed over, offered some useful links and contributed to some of the

content of the units (see for example, Unit 2, page 13). They were enthusiastic in their praise of

the OER units generally but also gave useful critical feedback. For example:

I think that this is excellent!. Just a few comments :Perhaps include a few sentences / or section on the needs of International students, and /or an interview with an International student, perhaps? As I mentioned when we met, International students really struggle in approaching academic staff (Helen William, SU)

Just some initial feedback, I really liked the layout with opportunity throughout for interaction with the video content and the boxes prompting active reflection…The content itself is extremely useful and relevant to developing teaching practices throughout the institution, one I was particularly keen on was the strategy for harnessing experience and knowledge. (Alex Blower, SU)

As a spin off from their work on this project, the SU will be contributing to the PGCert in Academic

Practice face to face delivery and the ‘up mentoring’ of up to 30 members of participants. Their

involvement adds richness, credibility and authenticity to these resources and a real student

dimension to the overall programme.

External evaluator feedback

Part way through the project an external evaluator, Dr Chrissi Narantzi (University of Salford) was

commissioned to evaluate the project and its outputs thus far. Dr Narantzi, joined the Steering

group meeting in July to talk through her draft report and discuss recommendations. In addition to

reviewing the outputs herself as an educational developer, a number of her PGCert participants

had also reviewed the units from a user perspective. Her full report (see Appendix) also provides a

series of suggestions and recommendations that we have begun to address. These include:

Recording and creating MP3 recordings of all text spoken by a native English speaker to

replace the machine generated text to speech voice in Xerte.

Consider how the module may be accessed via mobile devices.

Providing a resource / teacher guide and separate guidelines on how to down load,

repurpose and republish the materials.

Include thoughtful responses in each forum to initiate on line discussion

Consider making video clips that were not used for the project available on Jorum

Link directly to other inclusivity OER resources created by project teams and other related

resources made available in Jorum.

Link to the UK Professional Standards Framework should be made live in the introduction

and assessment points.


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Link to HEA membership application form in assessment sections and link to advice on

how to complete it.

2.4 Immediate Impact

2.4.1. Impact of the moduleQualitative data

One of the criteria for measuring impact is the number of institutions who download the module

and embed it into their academic development programmes. It is still too early for most academic

developers to have downloaded and embedded the module into their programmes for the start of

academic year 2011-12. However, we can confirm that two of the units form an integral part of our

own PG Cert in Academic Practice and have been downloaded and embedded in our VLE (WOLF)

for this award. In addition, our external evaluator has embed one of the units within her own

institutional VLE (Blackboard) and is intending to use others this September:

Just did the test in BB and it seems to work…Please let me know when all 3 units are ready. We would like to use them for one of our projects starting in Sep (Dr Nerantzi, University of Salford)

Furthermore, we have some promising indications that other will follow given the feedback from

various dissemination activities. For example:

…I’ve had a number of colleagues commenting on your contribution and clearly you’ve caused them to feel inspired with the approaches to inclusive teaching… I think you have chosen an angle on promoting inclusive teaching within the disciplines which is very attractive to us. There may be potential for using your resource in our probationary lecturers’ programme, if on closer evaluation this appears to be possible. It would certainly seem to offer an opportunity for developing teachers, to review the teaching of peers, at their own pace and at a time of their choosing. I am sure that will be most attractive’. (Gwen van der Velden, Director of Learning and Teaching Enhancement, University of Bath).

Have had a quick tour of your Unit 2 – much food for thought – many thanks. …looks great, better yet as a sometimes lecturer I found your ‘invitations’ challenging and thought provoking in a positive reflective (non-confrontative way) i.e. from my point of view….. brilliant!’ (Dr Sophia Matiasz, Principal Policy Officer, Department of Further Education, Employment, Science and Technology, Adelaide, South Australia)

I've had a look at the information on the OERs and work you’re doing… All looks fantastic and perfect for our needs. We would really benefit from your experience at CSU. (Liz Smith, Director, Transitions, Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, NSW Australia)

…Your principles on inclusive practice fed into the Action Research conference, with Jean McNiff, and were re-enforced by the PVC Learning and Teaching. I think as an institution we have moved forward this week’ (Dr Sally Bradley Director of L&T, Sheffield Hallam University).

Finally, we were informed by colleagues attending a SCORE Short Term Fellowship Residential Course at the Open University (Finding and Evaluating OERS) that the Learning to Teach Inclusively module is currently being shown to participants as a model of ‘best practice’

Statistical data


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In addition, to monitoring institutional uptake of the module and associated resources from

qualitative sources, we have been tracking the individual use of the module through Google

Analytics. The graph below indicates the number of ‘absolute unique visitors’ to just one unit (unit

2) of the Learning to Teach Inclusively module. In the period between 16 May, 2011 to 24 August,

2011 there were 179 absolute unique visitors (i.e. new rather than returning visitors) who made

622 visits to the unit. Each visit lasted on average 3minutes 42 second with one visit of over 24

minutes. Visits came from seven countries: United Kingdom, Australia, Netherlands, Latvia,

Ireland, Switzerland, Spain and from 43 cities in United Kingdom. We believe that the most of the

new visitors are academic development professionals and consultants with whom we have been in

contact for review and feedback, and delegates who have attended our dissemination and user

engagement events. However, we also believe that a small number of visitors have found the unit

through searching data bases. We expect they will be viewing the module for it’s possible use /

reuse in their own institutions.

We will soon be using Google Analytics to monitor the time spent on each page within the module.

Once the module or elements of it have been downloaded and embedded into institutional

programmes it will still be possible to track their use through Google Analytics provided we have

the link to where they have been embedded.

2.4.2. Impact of video clipsQualitative evidence

We know that the video clips make a big impact on those who attend seminars and workshops

based on their feedback and on the level of discussion they trigger. Qualitative evidence from

‘early adopter’ testing and review of just a few of the clips suggest they have a powerful immediate

and knock on impact on lecturers and staff developers as this e mail suggests:

I heard Prof Mike Healey give the key note speech at the Roehampton Learning and Teaching conference earlier this year. I wrote and asked him about part of his presentation and he suggested that I get in contact with you…After the conference I fed back to my Creative Writing colleagues about some of the case studies he presented. At one stage he showed a 'sharing knowledge and experience' clip where you asked students to describe their journey to university. We found this particularly inspiring and would like to adapt the activity for our induction for new first yrs. It's of particular relevance in a Writing Journalism class. (Dr Louise Tondeur, Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing, Roehampton University).

We know that the process of filming the sessions and reviewing and discussing the DVD after the

sessions has made an impact on the practice and thinking of those involved. This is evident in the


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discussions (some of these discussions are captured on video and have been included in the

resources and in the module). Whilst this is not an impact of the product, it is an impact of the

process.

Quantitative evidence

Gathering of quantitative evidence of impact of the video clips is at its early stages. We are now

able to look at the number of viewings of video clips on viewed from Vimeo.com every day. For

example, on 23rd August 2011, the Learning to Teach Inclusively video clips were viewed 32 times.

We have no further information about this but we will soon be able to carry out more detailed

analysis once the clips are fully uploaded on Jorum.

Internal impact and change stimulated by this OER project.

As this has been the University’s first foray into the production of high-quality OERs, the project’s

processes and issues have provided evidence for internal changes need to both produce and

exploit OERs for learning. The production process will serve as the basis for the creation of

University guidelines to inform other such OER creation in the institution, serving to raise

awareness of the use of e.g., use of video, interactivity, peer-review, subtitles etc. Alongside this

the technical skills developed in use of Xerte, Jorum etc. have highlighted a gap in institutional

expertise, which is being addressed.

The OER project has also served to highlight an institutional gap in our exploitation of the now very

rich and growing corpus of OERS in all disciplines. From this, over the coming year, the University

will develop processes, involving staff from a variety of service departments, which will facilitate the

discovery, evaluation, and use of OERS across our curricula.

2.5 Future ImpactA key challenge for all year long projects whose focus is the development of OER materials is user

engagement with products that are often still in the development stage. Whilst we have been

enterprising in our external dissemination, the actual take up of the product is still some way off.

We cannot expect academic developers to simply begin using them straight away. They need to

time to evaluate, select and repurpose them. So we anticipate that we will only be able to evaluate

the real impact of the OER module on academic practice and student engagement once it has

been repurposed and fully embedded in institutional programmes.

We anticipate that the module, its units and associated OER will help to create more inclusive

learning and teaching environments. We expect this to be evident in the assessed work of

students and in the practice of teachers and support staff who engage with the module. Peer

observations during and after the module or as part of institutional peer observation schemes will


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provide the means for gathering such evidence. It is also anticipated that team teaching will offer

additional sources of critical review and anonymised evaluation.

In the meantime, more needs to be done to make potential users aware of the OER module and

material and to encourage engage with them (see Greenbo et al., 2011) so in June this year, we

submitted a proposal to the ESRC under its Follow on Funding scheme, to develop a consortium of

training, development and research centres around the UK, specialising in inclusive learning and

teaching in HE. The aims of this follow on project will be to:

embed and extend the principles and pedagogies associated with teaching and engaging

learners from diverse backgrounds in HE;

work with staff in different types of higher education institution to construct on-going

programmes of development in their own institutions in which inclusive pedagogies and

practices form a central theme

develop a framework to evaluate the effectiveness of these programmes on the academic

engagement of diverse learners within participating HEIs;

facilitate the development of a consortium of centres for inclusive learning and teaching to

further develop, embed and extend the current body of knowledge, practice and resources

around inclusive pedagogies and practices.

Together with our partners in the HEA Inclusion Team, we will work with these centres to support

the development of inclusive practice in their institutions with the reuse and repurposing of the

‘Learning to Teach Inclusively’ OER package. Once established within their own programmes,

these centres will offer training, development and consultancy around inclusive practice with the

use of OER to other HEIs.

If our application is successful, this follow on project will continue our work in encouraging the

embedding of this OER module and to extend its use across the sector. The proposed consortium

model has the potential for sector wide impact on the academic engagement of all students as set

out in the Learning to Teach Inclusively project and the original ESRC research underpinning it.

3 ConclusionsOverall this project has delivered a module and repository of unique video resources that will

support the development of inclusive practitioners in HE, a ‘professional value’ within the UK

Professional Standards Framework. This will contribute to the delivery of a fair HE system and

build understanding of the different ways in which people value, respond to and interact with

diversity. It will do this by cultivating an awareness of the complexity of student diversity among

university teachers whose traditional forms of pedagogy often fail to exploit prior learning and

skills, maximise intercultural learning, address inequalities, handle tension, and deal with sensitive


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issues. It will help to develop the craft of inclusive pedagogy, by building and sharing

understanding and knowledge about complex and often deeply embedded differences in practices.

4 RecommendationsThe following points summarise the key recommendation arising from this projects:

We recommend the Learning to Teach Inclusively module for all HEI academic

development programmes in UK to meet the challenges of the facing the sector (see

project summary). We also have evidence to believe there is potential for its use

/repurposing within in FE (see evaluator’s report section Value to Programme Providers)

and overseas institutions. We are already in discussion with colleagues in Australian and

Indian institutions (see section 2.4.1. Immediate impact of the module) to explore the

potential of this package in their contexts. Further research is required here.

We recommend that the Learning to Teach Inclusively package and resources is used in

future HEA change academy programmes to support student retention and success

(Professor Liz Thomas, feedback to Steering Group). Change academy participants

would also be invited to contribute to the sustainability of the resource by engaging in

user forum, writing new material, offering new videos, etc. (see also section 2.5 Future

Impact).

We would recommend that students are involved at the outset in the planning,

development and evaluation of any new OER development project. This not only models

inclusive practice, it adds richness, authenticity and vibrancy to the product. (See section

2.3.4. Lessons from module testing). Student collaboration could be arranged through

the Students Union, through volunteering, or as part of their studies for which they gain

credits.

The production of video clips in which staff and students are filmed during normal

classroom session requires hours of preparation, relationship building, negotiation,

specialist technical expertise, equipment and software, etc. Generous time allocation for

this should be built in project plans.

We would recommend at least one of the sessions to be filmed is observed before

filming takes place. Ideally, an academic developer / subject specialist and a video

production specialist should work with the participants to agree what/who is filmed and

how to overcome the technical limitations of kit, room, and to ensure ethical protocols are

observed.


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We would recommend that all videos are subtitled as a standard. This not only complies

with principles of inclusive practice, it also helps hearing viewers to follow poor quality

sound that is inevitable during live (i.e. un staged) teaching sessions.

We would recommend that institutional processes should encourage and enable staff

engagement with OER generally. (See section 2.5 Future Impact).

5 Implications for the future

See also Future Impact 3.5.

This OER OMAC project has provided the means through which we can not only disseminate but

ultimately influence good practice around inclusive learning and teaching in HE. The proposed

‘follow on’ projects outlined in section 3.5., if successful, will provide the infrastructure through

which this resources may be disseminated and used for the ultimate aim of academically engaging

diverse students. The proposed consortium will also provide the means though which these

resources can be developed, improved and further disseminated to other HEIs.

One area for further development would be to produce a version of the module by subject. The

current version is generic and the video clips and scenarios draw on a range of subjects to

illustrate aspects of inclusive practice. We feel there is a demand for subject specific resource that

would resonate with those whose subjects may not yet be represented in the current version. We

would look to work with subject specialist across the sector to produce such a resource.

We are mindful that the normal currency of video clips is short (5 years maximum). We endeavour

to continue to gather video clips that could potentially replace the existing videos embedded in the

module and to add to the resource in Jorum. We aim to do that through the assessment within the

Learning to Teach Inclusively module itself and via our own use of it in our PG Cert Academic

Practice. . In addition, we have set up a Problem Reporting Form that allows users to report any

problems they are experiencing with downloading, viewing, repurposing the resources or to bring

to our attention any typographical errors, subtitling, or whatever. We will notify users of any

changes or updates via our twitter account: http://twitter.com/#!/LTImodule.

6 ReferencesGreenbo, J. G., Fisher, F., Thille, C. (2011) Cases of OER use: aspects that contribute to

successful adoption. Presentation at OER11 Conference, Manchester, May 11-13, 2011.

Hockings, C. (2010). Inclusive learning and teaching in higher education: a synthesis of research.

Journal. Retrieved from


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http://twitter.com/#!/LTImodule


http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/ourwork/teachingandlearning/inclusion/alldisplay?

type=resources&newid=ourwork/inclusion/

Inclusion_Research_Syntheses_Main_Page&site=york

Websites and URLLearning to Teach Inclusively module http://labspace.open.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=6224

Learning and Teaching for Social Diversity and Difference in HE. ESRC / TLRP project website

(http://www.wlv.ac.uk/teaching4diversity)

7 Appendices See below


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http://www.wlv.ac.uk/teaching4diversity



Evaluation report

Unit 2, general observations includedChrissi Nerantzi, Academic Developer, University of Salford

[email protected]

15 July 2011

SummaryThe following report evaluates Unit 2 of the OER OMAC 1 Project Wolverhampton. This forms part

of the 30 credits open access tailor-able module “Learning to Teach Inclusively”, which was

developed by the above project team lead by Prof. Christine Hockings. The module is available

within LabSpace at http://labspace.open.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=6224 to be used by HE

institutions for Academy accredited staff development provision such as a PgCert or CPD. The

report also offers suggestions for further enhancement together with a selection of questions for

the project team.

Evaluation approachThe project documentation was analysed and the OER linked to this project accessed in LabSpace

and studied over a few weeks to gain a better understanding of the resources created, and to

identify their pedagogical value for institutions and practitioners. In addition, two practitioners from

the University of Salford were invited to access this module, specifically Unit 2, and comment on

how these resources could be re-purposed and used for additional staff development activities

linked to an HEA funded project around Inclusive Culture.

EnvironmentMoodle is generally seen as a more popular alternative among staff and students to other VLEs

such as Blackboard and WebCT. Some HE institutions have started replacing their existing VLE

with the open source Moodle, in an attempt to reduce costs and present a more user-friendly


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mailto:[email protected]


online learning environment to staff and students. LabSpace, the open access Moodle space

provided by the Open University, is indeed an attractive solution to create and share OER.

General observations about the module in LabSpace

Making OER available in module format as in this project, gives practitioners the opportunity to

explore not just the OER but also how these could be used within practice. Also, using LabSpace

and Xerte, both open source software, enables practitioners to experiment with the tools to design

their own module in Moodle or in another VLE system, or OER using Xerte based on their specific

needs.

Currently, early July 2011, when this report was written, the module was incomplete. Mainly Unit 2

was developed and made available in LabSpace.

General observations and questions about the module as presented in LabSpace are made below:

The module consists of a series of units. These are presented clearly labelled Unit 1, 2 and

3 (order?) Would you consider naming these so that the title reflects the content of the unit,

for example Unit 2 – Inclusive Pedagogy?

A general introduction to the module under the title image would have been useful. There

the intended learning outcomes (these are on screen 3 of the Xerte package unit 2) could

be mentioned, together with some ideas on how this module, or parts of it, could be used


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within Academic Development provision and elsewhere (HE and FE, self-study) in a

variety of teaching and learning situations, such as face-to-face, blended or fully online.

These additional information might especially useful for practitioners who intend to use the

resources within LabSpace.

Could a series of short audio files (mp3) be created based on the content of each unit and

made available for download from LabSpace and Open Jorum to enable mlearning?

It was useful to see a help document within Unit 2 which included a series of images and

made this document more inclusive. Could a screencast (audio, visual, text) be used as an

orientation tour and made available outside the individual units?

Currently, only OER are made available. Activities are embedded within Unit 2 itself. Is

there perhaps an opportunity to model how discussions could be used for online

asynchronous collaborative engagement and learning for example? Or would this happen

during first iteration of the module in Sep 2011 as mentioned in the project documentation?

Unit 2 includes a Help file in which the use of the Learning Journal and the online forum is

mentioned (see extract below). A series of sample discussion topics or thought questions

might be useful. Also are there opportunities for synchronous collaboration using the

available LabSpace tool? Could a sample webinar, for example, be offered as part of each

unit? Instructions for this could be included and webinar themes and basic structure could

also be provided. At the moment there is interactivity. Further opportunities for

collaborative learning and engagement with these OER would be a useful and valuable

addition and might be something to consider at a later stage.

The above is included in Unit 2 HelpFile.pdf

It would be useful in the future to trial the use of the OER with practitioners from different

institutions in the spirit of open practice. If you would consider to carry out the above in the

future, it would be useful to provide instructions on how the LabSpace learning tools could

be used within the context of the module to complement the resources and provide an

opportunity for interaction, dialogue and collaborative learning.


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Using existing opportunities for connectivity through learner devices: Going mobile? What

are the issues? Have you explored this possibility? Article:

http://elearningshow.wordpress.com/2011/06/17/my-response-to-moodle-app-going-

mobile/ Mobile app: http://docs.moodle.org/dev/Mobile_app

Link to related Projects?Currently, there is an area in the module which enables practitioners to find additional OER

resources linked to Academic Practice. The search tool is also a useful feature and enables

practitioners to search for more specific OER. I am wondering if it would also be useful to link

directly to other inclusivity OER resources created by

project teams and other related resources made available in

Jorum.

For example, the Academic Development Unit at the

University of Salford recently participated in the HEA and

JISC funded collaborative Open Educational Resources for

the Inclusive Curriculum (ORIC) Project lead by the

University of Bradford (access


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http://docs.moodle.org/dev/Mobile_app

http://elearningshow.wordpress.com/2011/06/17/my-response-to-moodle-app-going-mobile/

http://elearningshow.wordpress.com/2011/06/17/my-response-to-moodle-app-going-mobile/


http://www.brad.ac.uk/educational-development/educational-research/oric/). A series of OER for

inclusive teaching and digital literacies has been developed and shared with the wider community.

Another opportunity might be the HEA funded programme Developing and Inclusive Culture in

Higher Education in which 16 institutions participate (see

http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/inclusion/developing_an_inclusive_culture_in_HE).

Question:

Could there also be a space (a forum for example?) where practitioners who access and use

this module, could share other related OER they have found useful and encourage a

discussion about these?

Unit 2

Fitness for purposeThis unit provides a rich resource on inclusive pedagogy. It introduces the learner to the basics

(what is inclusive pedagogy), moves on to strategies and principles of inclusive pedagogy (how to

implement it - skills) and finally focuses on the craft of inclusive practice (the importance and value

of reflexivity and creativity - values). The content unit is greatly linked to the professional context of

the learner. This is reflected well in the aims, objectives and learning outcomes which are highly

personalisable and focused around learners’ own professional practice and there is alignment

(learning outcomes – activities – assessment). This characteristic makes this unit attractive since

the learner knows from the outset that the content is contextualised to his own situation. What is

also very useful, is that the learner is not just asked to study inclusive pedagogies but also reflect


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http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources/detail/inclusion/developing_an_inclusive_culture_in_HE

http://www.brad.ac.uk/educational-development/educational-research/oric/


on his own practice throughout the

unit and plan to undertake an

intervention to enhance own

inclusive practice further. Theory

and application in practice are in

this way effectively

interconnected.

Specific reference made to how

Unit 2 could be used by target users in different context, such as a PgCert, CPD or independently

for preparing to apply for Associate Membership or Fellowship of the HEA is useful and will give

module and programme leaders ideas how it could be used but also act as a motivator for

individual learners who might study this unit autonomously. It might be useful to add a direct link to

the UK PSF from this page and the application process.

Unit 2 consists of 4 sections in total. These present a logical and progressive order but can also be

studied independently if so required by the learner. This makes the resources more flexible and

usable.

Through short paragraphs of concise text written in an accessible and understandable language

and material which is grounded in recent research and underpinned by theory, the past and current

landscape of inclusive pedagogies is presented effectively (links to the original resources are

included in the References section). Text is complemented by a series of images (which could

also be used as a starting point for discussions and reflections) and short open tasks to trigger

thinking and reflection about own practice and context. This is an excellent and inclusive way to

engage learners with the materials and enable them to make links to own practice and start

thinking about it in a more inclusive way. Overall, there is a good mix of activities. These can be

formatively assessed by self, peers, tutors and the computer itself (automated). Teacher’s guide

could include such information. How will feedback be provided to practitioners who study the

resources without support? Could there be a note in the introduction to establish perhaps a peer

support network or a buddy system?

Practitioners can capture their thoughts and reflections in the learning journal (will this be shared

with the tutor and/or peers?) and/or in an online discussion enabling a more social and

collaborative learning experience. The approach used models inclusive practice. I was very

pleased to see this feature and feel that it will connect learners and enable them to collaborate so

that they feel part of a group and a learning community. Studying online in isolation is not desirable

and a more social aspect of learning has been taking into consideration. A separate introductory

Unit in LabSpace for familiarisation with the technology and socialisation would be useful for those

who would like to use these with a group of practitioners within LabSpace.

A variety of teaching and learning approaches are captured in the large number of authentic video clips which make them a useful and powerful addition to the written part. The clips are from

different teaching and learning contexts and disciplines and have a clear focus. Currently, there

are limited video resources available which depict authentic teaching and learning situations in HE


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(see http://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/ and http://videolectures.net/Top/ for example which are more

focused on the delivery of content than the inclusivity aspect of teaching and learning) and this

collection fills this gap. They are short and complement the sections well bringing some of the

issues around inclusive pedagogies discussed alive. Having the authentic learning situations

presented in these, with real tutors and real students makes them more valuable than a polished

unrealistic re-presentation of a teaching and learning situation. Watching real teaching and

learning in action, diverse students engaged in the activities and then commenting on their

experience with their tutors adds to the richness and usefulness of these resources. The approach

used here is learning from practice of others. Problems are not hidden but are useful for further

discussions and additional individual and/or group activities. The clips raise awareness and

responsibility and trigger thinking and reflection linked to own practice and there is an opportunity

there, through the open embedded activities on most of the pages to step back and reflect what

these clips mean for own practice. Additional interactivity has been added through drag-and-drop

activities (see page 23 for example) to enable further engagement with the video clips. Are there

opportunities to add a few more open ended types of activities such as mindmapping for example?

The summative assessment of this unit is flexible and personalisable and assessment criteria are

negotiated with the tutor. The different context of the practitioner who is accessing and completing

this unit is taken into consideration effectively and options and choice are provided. The

practitioner is reminded to establish which summative assessment option to follow depending on

their circumstances (institution, programme of studies, plans to complete individual application for

A/FHEA) and this is indeed important especially in the context of open access and open practice. A

link to the related HEA application forms might be useful?

The practitioner is asked to critique an intervention made in their own practice and capture this in a

variety of media. This makes this task a very meaningful one for the practitioner since the task is

grounded in practice but also because of the flexibility to complete it using different media.

Built-in user evaluation is an excellent idea to collect feedback from practitioners who used this

OER. Could an open access form be created, for example with GoogleDocs, to enable other

practitioners to copy and edit this easily to conduct their own evaluations?

Technical qualityUnit 2 OER The open source authoring tool Xerte has been used to create a series of OER. The

look and feel is professional and of high standards. The Unit is well designed and includes a series

of still and moving images well combined which makes this package more accessible and inclusive

combined with the features Xerte has to personalise view (see accessibility section).

Video resources: Video clips can be enlarged but it was initially hard to work out how. The zoom in

and zoom out menu which appears now when the cursor is moved over the video has resolved this

issue.


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http://videolectures.net/Top/

http://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/


Also there were some issues with the quality of the audio in some videos especially when students

were talking in classroom situations. However, the subtitles provided enable the user to follow what

is been said when this happens.


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The above is a drag-and-drop activity. After solving the task all statements disappear. Could there

be a concluding screen after the activity or a summary linked to the videos and answers?

Ease of repurposing and reusabilityIt was useful that the whole unit 2 was packaged together (some concerns about this were

expressed in the project documentation). This makes it easier for other users to copy and

repurpose the OER. Copying 1 OER and breaking it down into meaningful chunks is easier than

copying a number of files which might not fit so well, as they

have been packaged, with the plans of the practitioner and

therefore would require more extensive editing and adaptation.

Unit 2 was created using the open source authoring tool Xerte

and could therefore be edited.

The use of Xerte, however, does require some understanding

of the tool and its functionality and it is therefore required that

practitioners would need to familiarise themselves with the tool

and approach a learning technologist for some help, if

required. Remixing content would therefore require

considerable effort and time by the practitioner. What if help by a learning technologist within the

institution cannot be provided? Could pointing towards online help through the Xerte Community

perhaps http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/xerte/community.htm be considered? Also, adding a short


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http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/xerte/community.htm


screen capture demonstration about how the OER created in Xerte, could be downloaded and

edited would also be beneficial.

Also, it is useful that all video resources can be downloaded separately. This makes re-using and

re-purposing of the video resources efficient and less time-consuming.

It might be useful to provide some ideas to practitioners how unit 2 could be used in different

learning situations, including formal and informal learning, as well as to complement face-to-face,

blended and online learning activities.

Also, could unit 2 for example also be useful for non-accredited staff development provision, for

example in a peer review/observation context (this is mentioned in the project documentation) but

also for staff development activities for other professionals who support learning (library and IT

services etc.) Such information be included when the Tutor Guide is made available.

The OER will be made available under creative commons Attribution-ShareAlike, which is excellent

and will enable re-mixing. Could there be a note added about the licence within the Xerte pack?

User friendliness and accessibilityLabSpace is a Moodle environment made available by the OU to anybody to openly and freely

create modules as OER which are made available under a specific Creative Common Licence and

can be re-used and re-purposed by individuals.

The OER created with Xerte have a professional look and feel, are interactive, incorporate different

media and make it an attractive and inclusive solution, especially since the tool itself enables users

to personalise view and change the colour scheme, screen and font size.

It has been noted that when a large/larger font size is chosen, not all text is displayed on the

screen (see image).

Navigation through the OER is easy and users don’t have to go through the unit in a linear way but

can access directly different sections, focusing on what the learner would like to study.

It is also useful for learners that individual screens can be shared and/or printed (see below).


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Value to programme providers and individual learnersUnit 2 OER models inclusive practice and presents a media-rich, valuable and flexible solution to

introduce practitioners to the concepts and characteristics of inclusive practice. This can be used in

a variety of Academic Development activities, including Academy accredited and non-accredited

provision. The target audience is new and experienced staff, academics and other professionals

who support learning. The OER is also relevant for practitioners in FE. Unit 2 as a whole or

separately, (sections 1, 2 and 3) could for example be used within a PgCert programme. This Unit

2 OER could also be used during a Team Away Day to enable participants to reflect on own

practice and provide a starting point for discussion and collaboration linked to the development of

enhanced inclusive practice among a specific team. Also linking this unit to the UK PSF makes it

attractive to practitioners who are interested in submitting an individual application to gain

Associate Membership or Fellowship of the HEA.

The unit would work well for self-study, supported or not-supported, as well as networked- or

collaborative learning. It could be used to complement face-to-face sessions as well as blended

and fully online provision. Content is progressively introduced and practitioners have the

opportunity to interact and make sense of the resources as they are presented through a series

and a variety of activities presented in a variety of media.

Overall, I feel that this OER is a valuable and versatile resource which will be useful for many

practitioners and a variety of learning and teaching situations and promote effectively inclusive

practice in HE and FE.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to have a closer look at this resource and share my

thoughts about it here.

Chrissi Nerantzi


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