http://www.jiscinfonet.ac.uk/case-studies/tangible/warwick/index_html
The University of Warwick, A team-based approach to developing e-resource
Summary
The aim was to introduce a planned approached to the development of elearning resources that would gradually develop rather than leave it to a few enthusiastic but isolated individuals.
It involved a number of planned activities designed to promote understanding and share best practice. It took the form of online support, face to face sessions and hands on training in the ICT suite.
Staff were encouraged to attend a number of sessions lured by the free hot lunch and invited to share ideas and suggest future activities
The innovation with this case was the fact that innovation was being used to sell innovative ideas and encourage the adoption of new practices and facilities. By learning about the e-resources in a combination of events it was hoped that staff could see and indeed embrace the benefits. This case did highlight the fact the staff lacked confidence in the use of the the tools available and the online conferencing.
4 comments:
Hi, i was going to review this case as well but just didnt get hooked on it when i read it...appreciate your appraisal of it.
Steve
Was there a 'planned implementation' process or follow-up to measure whether the target staff had in fact been enabled to develop e-resources at Warwick. I ask this because last year one of my fellow OU students was employed at Warwick to help promote the use of e-resources on the Warwick MBA, an environment which I had imagined, wrongly, would be quite IT savvy.
By all accounts she encountered as many 'laggards' there as elsewhere, however, unlike yourself she didn't feel that she was dealing with 'lazy laggards'
This was not really a particularly good case study and you have identified a good point. Although there is claim within this case that the research studies and programme evaluations indicate there have been real benefits to student learning. For example in the initial evaluation of the e-portfolio process for SSMs 80% of students found it to be a useful learning experience and 72% said it influenced their approach to learning. 93% said it led them to reflect following the end of the placement. Likewise, in the evaluation of the annual appraisal supported by e-portfolio 70% of students found it useful and 58% said it would influence their learning in the subsequent year.
I'm pretty much going to ask similar questions to the ones I asked Ravi about this case. Hopefully we can develop answers together.
Do you think that this team based approach has wider implications for innovation in general? Does a team based approach allow them to bring a different set of experiences to bear and identify issues much better than an individual 'innovator'? Would you think that identifying a problem together should have a better chance of a successful team based resolution than having a solution imposed by someone who perceives their problem for them? Does this relate to your experience at work or is innovation mainly an individual enterprise there?
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