JISC

Start date: 1 October 2000

End date: 31 March 2002

Funding programme: Building MLEs in Higher Education

Project website: http://www.roundtable.ac.uk/

This project is part of the roundtables project cluster in this particular programme. Projects in this cluster are evaluating whether the American Association for Higher Education (AAHE) Teaching and Learning Technology (TLT) Roundtable methodologies for improving the use of technology in teaching will transfer effectively to a UK environment.

This project has completed and has produced :

• Roundtable Materials - to guide and support the use of the Roundtable approach in UK higher and further education institutions
• Flashlight Literature Report - Flashlight Online, is an evaluation toolkit. It is customisable, designed to help institutions obtain timely information about Learning Technologies, their role in improving student learning and their cost-effectiveness
• A Final Report (pdf) which details the project activities and findings.

Context

All educational institutions need to make best use of the opportunities afforded by new technology-based learning environments. This requires the information systems within those institutions to be fully integrated and interoperable, with the overall aim of 'joined-up computing'. It is essential that all those involved with this process work together effectively and efficiently and that their decisions are enabled by relevant, timely information about their efficacy. This JISC-funded project is implementing, analysing and evaluating two possible solutions in four diverse educational institutions in the UK. They are the Roundtable Methodology and Flashlight Program, both developed in the USA by the Teaching, Learning and Technology Group (TLT Group) .

Aims

The overall aim of the project is to evaluate whether the Roundtable and Flashlight initiatives transfer meaningfully and usefully to UK institutions and what guidelines (mindful of the differences between the UK and US systems) should be produced to help other educational institutions implement them.

Objectives

The specific objectives are:

• To conduct a comparative study of the implementation of the Roundtable Methodology in a diverse testbed in four UK FE and HE institutions
• To provide an analysis of the implementation of the Roundtable Methodology based on an evaluation of the applicability and effectiveness of it within the four institutions
• To administer one toolkit, the Current Student Inventory (CSI), evaluating its flexibility and usefulness in providing appropriate and relevant information
• To draw upon the experience of the consortium to provide a meaningful comparison of the implementation of the Roundtable Methodology and Flashlight Program in the UK and the USA
• To advise on the suitability of these initiatives in the UK and, if appropriate, possible implementation issues in their deployment
• To disseminate the findings of the project widely throughout FE and HE in the UK

Project Design

The research is both qualitative and quantitative. It is analysing the usefulness of the Roundtable Methodology as a guide to setting up a Roundtable in an FE or HE institution. It is also evaluating the efficacy of a Roundtable in supporting learning technologies in four educational institutions from the perspective of those in the Roundtable and from senior management for the length of the project. In addition, Flashlight Online is being administered and evaluated for its ability to provide meaningful information.

Deliverables

An evaluation report will be produced on the implementation of the Roundtable Methodology and Flashlight Program, comparing and contrasting their suitability in four educational institutions. The report will contain recommendations on the suitability of the two initiatives for the UK FE and HE community. Guidelines for their adoption will also be developed and published