Undervisnings?ret 2021 starter som fjor?ret sluttet, med de ansatte p? hjemmekontor og med heldigital undervisning. Denne uken er smittevernreglene i Oslo-regionen ytterligere strammet inn, slik at studentenes h?yt verdsatte tilgang til bygningene p? campus ogs? er stanset.
Det var virkelig ikke slik vi ønsket det skulle bli.
Vi kan bare h?pe dette strenge regimet har god effekt p? virusspredningen og at stengningen av universitetene ikke trenger ? vare lenge. P? alle v?re enheter er planene klare for raskt ? g? over til hybride og fysiske alternativer s? snart koronaretningslinjene tillater det. Men s? langt dette semesteret er vi henvist til ? bruke digitale plattformer b?de i undervisning og i kommunikasjon med studentene og hverandre, og til utfordringen med ? gj?re det beste ut av det.
Digitalisering ikke et poeng i seg selv
En forskjell fra sjokket rundt nedstengingen i mars er at vi n? har fordelen av erfaringen fra to tidligere koronasemestre. ?ret 2020 presset oss alle over p? digitale plattformer for ? f? gjort jobben v?r, og det er bare ? konstatere at UiO 2030 sin strategi om at ?Digitalisering skal v?re integrert i fag og i l?ringsprosesser? allerede n? kan markeres som ?Gjennomf?rt?. Samtidig har vel alle innsett at digitalisering ikke er noe poeng i seg selv. Men om vi holder zoom-fatigue og belastningen av pandemien utenom, s? er det fortsatt stor variasjon i hvor mye underviserne hos oss har sans for, og teknisk interesse for, digital undervisning.
P? UiOs Utdanningskonferanse 2020 i desember fokuserte pedagogikkprofessor Frank Fischer fra Ludwig-Maximilians-Universit?t i München nettopp p? dette. Han kategoriserte akademias undervisere i tre grupper; PowerPointers, Clickers og Digital Pros ut fra deres ulike fortrolighet med bruk av digitale virkemidler i studentaktive l?ringsformer.
De fleste klarer ? gjennomf?re forelesninger med PowerPoint via Zoom, og kan administrere emner og kontakt med studentene via digitale l?ringsplattformer som blant annet Canvas. Mange undervisere har fatt erfaring med ? legge inn noen studentaktive elementer i forelesningen, slik som bruk av chat og breakout-rooms, og varianter av digitale feedback-systemer eller klikkere. Noen av underviserne i akademia har kommet enda lengre i anvendelsen av studentaktive digitale l?ringsformer, og har utviklet opplegg der studentene gj?r ulike forberedelser i forkant av forelesningen – som ? se en video, oppsummere en bit av pensum og svare p? noen oppgaver.
Dermed kan selve forelesningstiden brukes til mer direkte gjennomgang av de mest utfordrende delene av stoffet, å svare på spørsmål og ikke minst å la studentene løse oppgaver og diskutere caser.
Krever ulik grad av forberedelse
Alle disse l?ringsformene har noen fordeler og ulemper, og Fischer gjennomgikk en del av disse. Problemene som beskrives med PowerPoint, blant annet ?overdose? og vansker med ? aktivisere studentene, er etter fjor?ret velkjent for de fleste. Hovedbegrensningen ved ren forelesning med PowerPoint, ogs? om man legger inn noen flere studentaktive elementer i form av ?klikkere?, er at studentene f?r en for passiv rolle som tilh?rere. Til tross for dette har denne forelesningsformen vist en viss dokumentert effekt i metaanalyser.
Ulike varianter av ?flipped class room? har st?rre dokumenterte effekter p? studentenes l?ring. I tillegg vet vi at det styrker studentenes opplevelse av at stoffet har relevans og kan anvendes p? konkrete problemstillinger, noe som er et viktig punkt for studentene p? SV-fakultetet. Effektene er imidlertid avhengige av at studentene er i stand til selvregulering og strukturering utenom timene for ? stille forberedt til undervisningen.
Mange har erfart at det er nødvendig med en grad av organisering av disse aktivitetene fra underviserens side, Fischer kalte det «scaffolding», for at slike opplegg skal fungere.
Dette er ogs? en undervisningsform som krever en del ekstra forberedelse fra foreleseren i form av ? lage oppgaver, eventuelt lage videoopptak og sette det hele sammen i et helhetlig opplegg. P? den andre siden: n?r man f?rst har gjort det, har man da et materiale som kan gjenbrukes.
Fischers hovedpoeng i foredraget var at undervisningsformen m? tilpasses de l?ringsm?lene man har for undervisningen. Dersom form?let er ? formidle allerede kjent kunnskap, kan klassisk forelesning med studentene som passive tilh?rere v?re tilstrekkelig. Hvis l?ringsm?lene derimot inneb?rer ? f? studentene til ? n?rme seg kunnskap der ?svaret ikke er kjent, der det skal bygges ferdigheter og generalisert kompetanse, trengs det en mer studentaktiv bearbeiding av stoffet.L?ringsm?l som forutsetter at studentene skal bygge videre p? kunnskap for ? generere nye l?sninger, finne alternativer og skape nye problemstillinger, krever en pedagogikk som stimulerer til aktivitet og 澳门葡京手机版app下载 - og samskaping mellom studentene?.
Inviterer til ? utforske potensialet
En konsekvens av Fischers budskap for den enkelte underviser er at ikke alle trenger ? l?re seg ? bli det Fischer kalte ?Digital Pros?. S?rlig i formidling av ren basiskunnskap kan det v?re tilstrekkelig ? v?re en ?PowerPointer?, eller en litt mer avansert ?Clicker?. Samtidig inspirerte han til ? utforske potensialet som ligger i ? sette sammen ulike elementer av digitale virkemidler som stimulerer til studentaktivitet, ferdighetstrening og 澳门葡京手机版app下载sl?ring, men samtidig ta hensyn til at slike innslag krever en del organisering for ? sikre at opplegget for studentenes egenaktivitet fungerer slik det skal.
For emner med s?rlig avanserte l?ringsm?l trakk Fischer fram eksempler p? komplekse digitale l?ringsdesign som case-simuleringer med online diskusjoner mellom studentene, med elementer av digitale ?hverandre-evalueringer? og feedback-data der underviseren underveis kan f?lge med p? b?de studentenes aktivitet og forst?else av stoffet og tilpasse videre undervisning til hva tilbakemeldingene tilsier det er behov for. Utenom koronaen trenger ikke disse v?re en erstatning for fysisk oppm?tebasert undervisning, men kan fint inng? i et mer helhetlig l?ringsdesign.
Samlet pedagogisk plan
N?r krisen fra pandemien er over og vi igjen kan planlegge undervisning og velge pedagogikk, blir utfordringen hvordan digitale virkemidler kan inng? i en samlet pedagogisk plan, knyttet opp mot l?ringsm?lene for det enkelte emnet og det aktuelle faget. Fischer understreket at dette ikke er et ansvar for den enkelte underviser alene. Utdanningsinstitusjonen m? ha en strategi som st?tter opp under en slik utvikling.
I tillegg m? det finnes egnet teknisk utstyr for god digital undervisning, undervisere og studenter m? f? anledning til ? utvikle digitale undervisningsferdigheter, og ikke minst m? det v?re tilgjengelig teknisk og pedagogisk brukerst?tte underveis.
Semesterstart sist høst avdekket flere organisatoriske områder rundt digital undervisning som kan forbedres, både på UiO og i hele sektoren.
Akkurat i disse dager arbeider fakultetet sammen med enhetene om ? utvikle en modell for en bedre organisering av fagn?re IT/AV-tjenester for undervisningen. M?let er ? f? dette p? plass i l?pet av v?ren, og mer informasjon om dette vil komme ganske snart. Inntil videre vil jeg takke alle undervisere, enten man f?ler seg mest hjemme i kategorien ?PowerPointer?, ?Clicker? eller ?Digital Pro?, for innsatsen for god undervisning til studentene v?re ogs? i en krisetid, og riktig lykke til med semesteret.
Se Fischers foredrag p? Utdanningskonferansen 2020 p? video eller PowerPoint
Becoming better equipped for digital teaching
“One difference in relation to the shock caused by the shutdown in March is that we now have the advantage of the experience gained from two previous coronavirus semesters. 2020 forced us all into using digital platforms to do our jobs”, writes Vice-Dean of Studies Trine Waaktaar.
The 2021 academic year starts as last year ended, with employees working from home and with all-digital teaching. This week, infection control regulations in the Oslo region have been further tightened, meaning that students’ highly valued access to campus buildings has also been stopped.
This really wasn’t the way we wanted it to be.
We can only hope this strict regime has a positive effect on the spread of the virus and that closure of universities doesn’t last long. Plans are in place at all of our units to quickly transition to hybrid and physical alternatives as soon as the coronavirus guidelines allow. So far this semester, however, we have to use digital platforms in both teaching activities and when communicating with students and each other, and have had to make the best out of a bad situation.
Digitalisation is not a goal in itself
One difference in relation to the shock caused by the shutdown in March is that we now have the advantage of the experience gained from two previous coronavirus semesters. 2020 forced us all into using digital platforms to do our jobs, and it has to be said that UiO’s Strategy 2030 stating that ‘Digitalisation must be integrated into subjects and learning processes’ can already be noted as ‘Implemented’. At the same time, everyone has realised that digitalisation is not a goal in itself. However, if we put zoom-fatigue and the strain of the pandemic to one side, there is still a lot of variation in how much our teachers appreciate and have a technical interest in digital teaching.
At UiO's 2020 Teaching Conference in December, professor in pedagogy Frank Fischer from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universit?t in Munich focused on exactly this point. He categorised academia’s teachers into three groups; PowerPointers, Clickers and Digital Pros, based on their differing familiarity regarding the use of digital instruments in student-active learning methods.
Most people manage to conduct lectures using PowerPoint via zoom, and can manage courses and connect with students via digital learning platforms such as Canvas. Many teachers have gained experience by adding some student-active elements to the lecture, such as the use of chat and breakout rooms, and variations of digital feedback systems or clickers. Some teachers in academia have made even more progress in the application of student-active digital learning methods, and have developed teaching plans where students make various preparations before the lecture takes place – such as watching a video, summarising part of the syllabus and answering some tasks.
By doing this, the actual lecture itself may be used for a more direct review of the most challenging parts of the subject matter, answering questions and not least allowing students to solve tasks and discuss cases.
Requires varying degrees of preparation
All these learning methods have both advantages and disadvantages, and Fischer discussed some of these. After the experience gained over the last year, most people are familiar with certain issues relating to PowerPoint, including ‘overdose’ and difficulty activating students. The main limitation of conducting a lecture purely with the use of PowerPoint, including the addition of a few more student-active elements in the form of ‘clickers’, is that students become too passive and end up being an audience. Despite this, this type of lecture has shown some documented effect in meta-analyses.
Different variations of the flipped classroom have greater documented effects on student learning. In addition, we know that it strengthens the students’ experience of the subject matter having relevance and that it can be applied to specific issues, which is an important point for the students at the Faculty of Social Sciences. However, the effects depend on students being able to self-regulate and structure their work outside of classes so they come prepared to the lectures.
Many have experienced that a certain amount of organisation regarding these activities must be implemented by the teacher. Fischer called it ‘scaffolding’ that needed to be in place in order for such teaching plans to work.
This is also a teaching method that requires the lecturer to make quite a lot of additional preparations in relation to creating tasks, making video recordings and putting it all together in one integrated teaching plan. On the other hand: once you have done it, you have teaching materials that can be reused.
Fischer’s main point in the lecture was that the teaching method must be adapted to suit the learning objectives of the teaching that takes place. If the purpose is to convey knowledge that is already known, traditional lectures where students make up a passive audience may be sufficient. If, on the other hand, the learning objectives involve getting students to acquire knowledge where ‘the answer is not known’, where skills and general competence must be developed, a more student-active processing of the subject matter is needed. Learning objectives that require students to build on knowledge in order to generate new solutions, find alternatives and create new issues require a type of pedagogy that stimulates activity, collaboration and co-creation between students.
Encouraging teachers to explore the potential
One consequence of Fischer’s message to individual teachers is that not everyone needs to learn to become what Fischer called ‘Digital Pros’. Especially when conveying pure basic knowledge, it may be sufficient simply to be a PowerPointer, or a slightly more advanced ‘Clicker’. At the same time, he encouraged people to explore the potential in combining different elements of digital instruments that stimulate student activity, skills training and collaborative learning, but while taking into account that such elements require quite a lot of organisation to ensure that the teaching plan for students’ independent activity works properly.
For courses that have particularly advanced learning objectives, Fischer highlighted examples of complex digital learning designs such as case simulations. These included online discussions between students with elements of digital ‘peer evaluations’ and feedback data. This means that the teacher can monitor both the students’ activity and understanding of the subject matter and adapt further teaching according to what the feedback indicates is needed. In absence of the coronavirus, these do not have to be a substitute for physical, attendance-based teaching, but their inclusion would facilitate a more integrated learning design.
Overall pedagogical plan
When the pandemic crisis is over and we can once again start to plan our teaching and choose what type of pedagogy to use, the challenge arises of how to include digital instruments in an overall pedagogical plan, linked to the learning objectives of individual courses and the subject in question. Fischer stressed that individual teachers shouldn’t have to shoulder this responsibility alone. The educational institution must have a strategy in place that supports such development. In addition, suitable technical equipment that facilitates good digital teaching must be available, teachers and students must get the opportunity to develop digital teaching skills, and not least, there must be technical and pedagogical user support available along the way.
The start of the semester last autumn revealed that several organisational areas concerning digital teaching could be improved, both at UiO and throughout the entire sector.
As we speak, the faculty is working together with the units to develop a model for the better organisation of academic IT/AV services for teaching. The goal is to get this in place during the spring, and more information about this will be provided soon. For now, I would like to thank all teachers, regardless of whether you feel most at home in the PowerPointer, Clicker or Digital Pro category, for your efforts in continuing to provide quality teaching to our students in a time of crisis. I wish you all the best of luck for coming the semester.
Watch Fischer’s lecture at the 2020 Teaching Conference on video or PowerPoint here.