LTA Connect: The place of videoconferencing within Hybrid-Flexible Education at UHI

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Session Outline

The study used the JISC online survey tool to explore the student and staff experience of learning and teaching on and off-campus, using synchronous (face-to-face or by videoconferencing) and asynchronous provision. The Covid Emergency has clearly changed both what educational professionals think is possible and what students want (or think they want) in terms of the media of educational provision. This study examines the individual perspectives of different discipline areas, study levels and personal circumstances to the learning and teaching experience during 2021-22 in an attempt to identify things that the UHI partnership could be doing differently in terms of the educational blend. During the Covid Emergency mode of delivery has been rapidly adapted to comply with physical distancing requirements. That however is not Hybrid-Flexible Education, as “choice” has lain entirely with the educational authorities. Going forward choice will lie with the students, in selecting which programmes they enrol on. The management decision for the future is not only whether our programmes should be offered on or off-campus, or use synchronous or asynchronous provision, but also to what degree this should be flexible. Should students be allowed to start a course face-to-face on-campus, but pivot to attendance by VC from a remote location (or visa versa)? Can a student with work or family commitments access the same module’s content asynchronously, but still be an active learner via discussion boards and other forms of peer interaction? UHI already allows students to move between full or part time study, and to exit and re-join programmes that have interim certification points. In many ways the offer of flexibility over the media of delivery would be a natural extension of what has been a signature characteristic of UHI teaching. However securing equality of experience for a cohort that accesses education through such diverse modes of attendance is a significant pedagogical challenge. Going forward UHI needs to make a decision as to whether this can be achieved to an acceptable standard and whether it is worth the opportunity cost. 

Presenters

Simon Clarke

Simon Clarke graduated in Archaeological Sciences from the University of Bradford in 1988 and completed a PhD in the Settlement archaeology of the Dobunni Iron Age tribe and Roman Civitas in 1994. Before joining Shetland College in 1998 he was employed in commercial archaeology and adult continuing archaeology at the Universities of Bradford and Leeds. He has excavated and surveyed extensively in Britain and internationally, notably at Scatness Broch and Birnie Iron Age farmstead, the Roman military sites of Binchester and Newstead, and the cities of Pompeii, Italy and Leptiminus, Tunisia. Since joining the UHI partnership Simon has been a leading practitioner of VC for teaching and has written a number of academic papers and best practice guides on the subject. As well as teaching his own discipline, Simon manages the Creative and Cultural Industries section at UHI Shetland, which covers humanities and the creative industries.   

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