http://www.prowe.ac.uk

PROWE (personal repositories:online wiki environments)

– using new networking tools and shared repositories to support part-time distance tutors’

professional development

Anne HewlingPROWE Project Officer

Open University

http://www.prowe.ac.uk

PROWE – what is it?

a JISC-funded Digital Repositories Programme Project between OU and UoL

Combines:- new communications tools e.g. wikis and blogs

- part-time distance tutors/associate lecturers- continuing professional development needs

- communities of practice- repository theory and practice

http://www.prowe.ac.uk

What drives it?

 

"In what ways could wiki and wiki-type environments be useful and useable as personal and informal

repositories to support professional development within part-time tutor communities of practice?"

 

http://www.prowe.ac.uk

What does that mean in practice?

• What are the CPD needs of part-time teaching/tutoring staff?

• What kind of sharing do these staff already do, or need to do, or want to do?

• What can new technologies like wikis, blogs etc. offer in response to these needs and wishes?

http://www.prowe.ac.uk

And “the ones that got away”…till now…

• Is anyone out there interested in sharing?

• What are their existing pedagogical models and how do they expect things to roll out?

http://www.prowe.ac.uk

Institutional context - OU• Around 150,000 undergraduate and more than 30,000

postgraduate distance students

• Nearly all students are studying part-time

• About 70 per cent of undergraduate students are in full-time employment and more than 50,000 students are sponsored by their employers

• More than 25,000 OU students live outside the UK

http://www.prowe.ac.uk

Institutional context - UoL

• Around 10,000 undergraduate and 8,000 postgraduate

• 6,000 students are studying part-time distance courses both in UK and overseas

• 65% of postgraduates are on courses with a significant distance learning, often online, element

http://www.prowe.ac.uk

Staffing contextThe Open University has…

• More than 7,000 tutors with diverse backgrounds• All dispersed around UK, Europe and elsewhere

• Highly structured learning/teaching/working environment• Distance-only institution

• Moving towards Moodle in 2007

The University of Leicester has…• Approximately 350 Associate Tutors

• In at least 11 departments • A wide range of tutor roles, duties, activity/involvement levels

• Blended environment• Moved to Blackboard in 2005

http://www.prowe.ac.uk

What has happened so far?

- user needs assessment

- tools assessment

- metadata and other complicated repositories bits

- elgg and Plone – testing environments

http://www.prowe.ac.uk

What happens next?

- bigger and better trialling (more people, longer, more directed activity)

- development of documentation and models

- evaluation

- reaching some conclusions…

http://www.prowe.ac.uk

Matters arising

- what is a typical tutor and what are typical needs?

- PRMS

- "if it 'ain't broke, why fix it?"

- facilitation

- why not/why?

http://www.prowe.ac.uk

PROWE: “A community is like a ship: everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm.”

Henrik Ibsen 

http://www.prowe.ac.uk

Contact us:

Webpage: http://www.prowe.ac.uk

Project email: info@prowe.ac.uk

Project Officer email (OU): a.hewling@open.ac.uk