Orna Farrell

Dublin City University (DCU) was granted the status of “University of Sanctuary” in December 2016. Fifteen scholarships were granted to refugees and asylum seekers; one provided by each of the five DCU faculties and the remaining ten provided by DCU’s online education platform, DCU Connected. This paper will report on the journey undertaken by a team within DCU’s National Institute for Digital Learning as they put in place the framework needed to support these scholars and the related research study which explores the nature of the transition experiences of University of Sanctuary Scholars to online distance learning. A longitudinal qualitative study is designed to seek a greater understanding of these learners’ experiences in the early stages of the study lifecycle, and of how their transition into higher education can be facilitated to enhance student success. The data collection technique is semi-structured online interviews conducted annually, and the first round of interviews h...

This article reports on a study that explored eportfolio practice in Irish higher education. The aim of this research was to gain a landscape snapshot of eportfolio practice and technologies across Irish Higher Education Institutes (HEI) and to address a gap in the literature that there is little empirical evidence about how Irish HEIs engage and adopt eportfolio in practice. The project adopted a mixed method approach and was framed by two research questions: RQ1: What are the features of eportfolio practice in Irish higher education? RQ2: What are the experiences of Irish higher education practitioners in adopting eportfolio? Data was collected from seventy-nine participants from a range of Irish HEIs using an anonymous online survey. The four central themes that make up the study’s findings highlight key issues related to institutional engagement with eportfolio including features of eportfolio practice; technology underpinning eportfolio practice; enablers of eportfolio adoption...

This qualitative study reports on an on-entry induction and socialisation intervention designed to support and retain students transitioning to higher education at an Irish private higher education institution. Following the intervention, a qualitative study was conducted with the aim of exploring new undergraduate student experiences of transitioning to higher education and their experiences of participating in the induction by design. Six themes emerged during the analytical process: academic experiences, expectations of higher education, the impact of college on life, induction by design, socialisation and the transition from school to college. Findings indicate that designed induction interventions which focus on the on-entry phase of the study lifecycle can have a positive impact on new higher education students.

This literature report is a phase one output from the #Openteach: Professional Development for Open Online Educators project, which is funded by the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. The #Openteach project aims to generate new knowledge about effective online teaching practice. It aims to harness this knowledge to support the professional learning of online teachers and to more effectively support online student learning experiences. This report was developed to help lay a foundation for the project through a critical analysis of relevant literature.

This practice report discusses the development of the Head Start Online MOOC. This initiative targeted flexible learners, defined as adults engaged in part-time or online distance learning, during the initial stages of the study life-cycle. Drawing on the literature, the experiences of major international Online and Distance Learning (ODL) providers, and a set of overarching design principles, the MOOC (Massive open online course) was developed with a suite of digital readiness tools at its heart. These tools were combined with other supporting materials in order to deliver a comprehensive pre-entry socialisation course. A small pilot of Head Start Online ran over five weeks with 150 people enrolled and 50 going on to receive a certificate of completion. The feedback received, albeit limited by the numbers of respondents, indicates that a course that strategically uses digital readiness tools can have a positive impact on new and prospective flexible learners.

Retaining students and supporting transition to Higher Education are key issues facing many Higher Education institutions. The recent study on progression in Irish Higher Education conducted by the HEA found that an average of 15% of new undergraduate entrants failed to progress into the second year of their programme. (HEA, 2010). In Dublin Business School, a private higher education institution, retention and progression of first year undergraduate Arts students was highlighted as an area of concern. In response to this, we identified two areas which could address retention and progression of first year undergraduates: induction & creating a first year experience. Our approach was informed by research from the fields of Education, for example research conducted by Cuseo (2002) on the roots of attrition and Tinto’s (1987) US based research which concluded that “students who do not feel that they belong both academically and socially are likely to leave”, and the fields of Social/Or...

This paper describes an ongoing initiative to enhance learner digital literacies by fostering historical thinking using digitized primary sources. Engaging with primary sources is central to the development of authentic critical historical thinking. In the past thirty years, millions of primary sources have been digitized by libraries and archives and has created a wealth of rich content for historians and history students. However the sheer scale of sources material, websites and questions about source quality make it a challenging research environment for learners. Based on current tutor and student feedback, additional support material that could increase access to these valuable open educational resources would be well received. The initiative is creating a set of learning materials which will support the use of online primary sources and enhance the learner experience. These learning materials will support flexible/off-campus learners and their development of research skills in...

This case study details the development of a systematic, programme-focused assessment and feedback strategy by the Humanities Programme Team, in Dublin City University’s Open Education Unit. Such a strategy is represented by a design that explicitly provides students with appropriate opportunities to attain all programme learning outcomes, as well as module learning outcomes, as they advance through their studies. An essential aspect of this endeavour was to ensure the appropriate usage and variety of assessment types, and integral to this is the need to ensure that appropriate feedback is being provided to students for each of these assessment types. As such appropriate feedback mechanisms are vital in order to achieve a successful assessment that makes a real impact on learners. This is especially important in students first year of study when positive experiences with assessment feedback can contribute to retaining students.

The Irish Higher Education sector has experienced a variety of key policy developments in the recent past. The publication of a ‘National Strategy for Higher Education to 2030’ was followed by the establishment of the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (NFETL) and the subsequent publication of ‘A Roadmap for Enhancement in a Digital World’ 2015–2017. In tandem, the National Forum devised the first national enhancement theme ‘Teaching for Transition’ and more recently ‘Assessment for, as and of Learning’ with research funding allocated. This paper will discuss two current national educational research projects that focus on the development of digital pedagogy. The first focuses on supporting transition through enhancing feedback in first year using digital technologies. Y1Feedback is a two-year (2015–2017) multi-institutional change project involving two universities and two institutes of technology (IoTs). Informed by both an analysis of current assessment a...

This case study reports on the practical use of technology to support a programmatic approach to achieving learning outcomes. This is achieved through the provision of appropriate opportunities for online distance learning (ODL) students to achieve the range of 21st century skills needed to manage the complexity of future problems and continue to be critical consumers and producers of knowledge throughout their lives. A programme-focused assessment strategy is utilised on an ODL Humanities programme with a distributed, modular provision model, in order to satisfy related learning outcomes. This strategy allows for the deployment of a range of assessment types, many of which are only possible through the current affordances of online learning, for example, wiki-building in groups and debates using discussion forums. Both the students and the majority of the academic staff are off-campus, with technology providing the means for interaction and communication relating to assessment of l...

This article reports on a qualitative study which explored online student engagement experiences in a higher education institution. There are very few studies providing in-depth perspectives on the engagement experiences of online students. The project adopted a case study approach, following 24 online students over one academic year. The setting for the study was an undergraduate online Humanities programme at Dublin City University. The research question for the study was: What themes are central to online student engagement experiences? Data was collected from participant-generated learning portfolios and semi-structured interviews and analysed following a data-led thematic approach. The five central themes that make up the study’s findings highlight key issues of students’ sense of community, their support networks, balancing study with life, confidence, and their learning approaches. The findings of this study indicate that successful online student engagement was influenced by...

In this article, the unfulfilled promise of eportfolio in Irish higher education is critiqued. The article analyses the factors that have led to the slow pace of eportfolio adoption in Ireland, in contrast to the ubiquitous nature of eportfolio practice in higher education worldwide. The emergence of an Irish eportfolio community indicates that eportfolio are gaining traction in Irish higher education but to fulfil their promise academics need to be supported in their professional development, funding is required for empirical research and a greater understanding of eportfolio purposes and pedagogy should be developed in the Irish academic community.Failure to Launch: The Unfulfilled Promise of Eportfolios in Irish higher education: An Opinion Piece

ABSTRACT This qualitative case study examined the effect of a six-week, pre-induction socialization Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), “Head Start Online”, on participants’ constructions of their expected study experiences in online or part-time higher education. The data analysed in this study were gathered from participant posts in discussion forums. The forums were purposively located within a course designed to provide a supportive resource and interactive platform for these learners during the early stages of the study lifecycle. The key themes constructed through the analytic process were: goals; community & support; balance; and learning. The data revealed that participant constructions of expected higher education experiences reflected the key messages that the course was designed to communicate and reinforce. In addition, the findings illustrate how specific design elements of the Head Start Online MOOC supported the creation of an engaged learning community within course discussion forums.

The aim of this special issue of the Irish Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning is to explore eportfolio in Ireland and further afield. An eportfolio can be a tool or technology, a practice, a pedagogical model, an assessment method and a framework for learning (Chen & Black, 2010).  There is growing interest in Ireland in the affordances of eportfolio and their potential to positively impact student learning and achievement. However, there was a dearth of empirical research on eportfolio practice in the context of the Irish educational system. This special issue on eportfolio aims to fill this gap in the literature, and enable us to better appreciate eportfolio practice and ground this in research. Women scholars have been disproportionately affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, in this special issue, the editorial team acknowledged and identified actions we could take to help to mitigate such effects on women scholars. These supports paid off; 83% of the authors in this issue are ...

This case study describes the development and introduction of a programme-focused assessment and feedback strategy to the Humanities Programmes in Open Education, DCU. There are four online/distance humanities degrees delivered by Open Education, as part of the National Institute for Digital Learning in DCU; BA Humanities, BA English & History, BA Single Module, and the BA Humanities (Psychology Major). The aim of this initiative was to design a systematic programme-focused assessment and feedback approach which ensured that students had a reasonable opportunity to meet all of the programme learning outcomes. The development of a programme-focused approach would ensure a wide variety of assessment types that were appropriate to the disciplines and had a customised appropriate feedback approach for each assessment. The development of the programme-focused assessment and feedback approach was underpinned by Hassan’s (2011) “assessment drives learning” philosophy, coupled with an ackno...

This qualitative study explores the transition experiences of refugees to study online in Dublin City University (DCU). Asylum seekers face financial, structural, cultural and digital equity barriers to access higher education (HE). In response to these barriers to access, DCU became a ‘University of Sanctuary’ in 2017, offering scholarships to refugees. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews. Four themes were constructed in the data-led thematic analysis: asylum world, belong-ing to the DCU community, the personal impact of studying and study world. Overall, this study strengthens the idea that access programmes such as the University of Sanctuary scholarships can facilitate participation in HE for refugees, provided that the necessary support to address the financial, structural, cultural and digital equity barriers is in place.

This mixed-methods study reports on a continuing professional development intervention (CPD), called #OpenTeach, designed to upskill part-team online teachers. CPD is recognised as crucial to the upskilling of educators to enhance the student learning experience. However, an important gap exists in the provision of CPD for part-time and online teachers who rarely have the opportunity to avail of campus-based resources (Beaton & Gilbert, 2013). To address this gap we need to better harness the potential of more flexible models of online education. Geographically dispersed online teachers require opportunities to engage with new learning designs, new digital competencies and new ways of embedding digital technology in teaching, learning and assessment. Accordingly, the #OpenTeach intervention addresses this challenge through a highly targeted CPD programme for part-time online teachers. The core of the initiative involves the development a short open online course on online teaching b...

The aim of this evaluation report is to evaluate the pilot run of the #Openteach course in order to explore, understand and evaluate its impact on the professional learning experiences of the participants and to inform the iterative design process.

Studying online is like walking a tightrope for many online students as they try to balance work and caring responsibilities with their learning. This paper reports on a qualitative case study which explored the balancing act of online student engagement experiences. The study followed twenty-four DCU Connected online students over one academic year. The research question for the study was: What themes are central to online student engagement experiences? Data was collected via participant eportfolio entries and through semi-structured interviews and was then analysed thematically. Four key themes were constructed via the analytic process, which included: the importance of community, support networks, balancing study with life, and approaches to learning. The findings indicate that successful online student engagement was influenced by a number of psychosocial factors such as peer community, an engaging online teacher, and confidence and by structural factors such as lifeload and co...

In this book we aim to share the knowledge, resources and research generated by the #Openteach project. The aim of the project was to create an evidence-based and open professional learning approach to support educators to teach online. Teaching online is different, in this book we explore this difference with the aim of supporting educators to develop their online teaching practice and knowledge of online pedagogy. The Covid-19 Pandemic has been a game changer for online education, impacting 1.5 billion students worldwide and thrusting the majority of schooling and higher education online (Bozkurt and et al. 2020). Additionally, the pandemic has thrust most higher education staff into teaching online, the majority without previous experience of this mode of education (Bozkart et. al., 2020; Farrell, 2020) However, teaching online requires different pedagogical approaches to traditional lecturing, therefore institutions need to support educators transitioning into online teaching to...

This paper reports on a qualitative case study set in Dublin City University which explored online student experiences of learning portfolio practice and its relationship with critical thinking development. Data was collected from participant generated learning portfolios and semi structured interviews. A data-led thematic analysis approach was adopted in which five themes were constructed. The findings from the study indicate that the learning experiences of online learners where enhanced by their engagement with learning portfolio practice, which created a personal place or sounding board to process and document their learning and lives in real and meaningful way. In addition, the findings suggest that learning portfolio practice may enhance the development of critical thinking skills within a disciplinary context.

The Y1Feedback Project is a multi-institutional learning and teaching enhancement project that aims to support the transition to Higher Education by using digital technologies to enhance feedback in the first year. The project is funded by the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in HE under the 2014 Enhancement fund. This paper outlines the project development and progress, with particular focus on identification of the feedback approaches that we are developing case studies of as part of this initiative. Although the project is not complete, the outcome of initial evaluations is reported and we reflect on the process and challenges encountered.

This article traces the evolution of the concept of portfolio from the Renaissance to the present day. Over time the meaning of portfolio has evolved from its origins as a case for holding loose papers to other contexts such as finance, government and education. Portfolios have evolved from paper to electronic, from local networks to the world wide web. The decade from 2000–2010 was a period when technology became part of mainstream society and educational technology become part of mainstream higher education, and portfolios spread around the world. A shift in focus has occurred in eportfolio research and practice in the last decade, there has been more emphasis on pedagogy and student learning and less focus on digital technology as it has become ubiquitous. One of the key takeaways from the story of eportfolio adoption is that educators and institutions should adopt a critical perspective to new educational technologies and approaches. Finally, the history of portfolio in higher e...

This paper traces the evolution of the concept of portfolio from the Renaissance to the present day. Over time the meaning of portfolio evolved from its origins as a case for holding loose papers to other contexts such as finance, government and education. Portfolios evolved from paper to electronic, from local network to the world wide web. The decade from 2000-2010 was a period when technology became part of mainstream society and educational technology become part of mainstream higher education, and portfolios became a ubiquitous assessment. From 2010-2020, a shift towards an emphasis on pedagogy and the student learning experience occurred in eportfolio research and practice. The history of (e)portfolio in higher education shows that the higher education system will continue to gradually evolve, incorporating concepts, technology and approaches that are compatible rather than transformative.

This digital poster will describe the Critical Folio Thinking framework for learning portfolio practice. Critical Folio Thinking emphasizes four key components of learning portfolio practice: the learning process, critical thinking skills, reflection and discipline context, see figure 1 below (Farrell & Seery, 2019; Farrell, 2018). Learning portfolios focus on the developmental process of learning, enabling students to reflect on how, why and what they learned, thus developing reflective judgement and higher order learning (Zubizaretta, 2009). Effective learning portfolio practice is grounded in a discipline, with an incremental design which focuses on the process of learning through the medium of reflective writing.

This paper reports on a doctoral research project which examines the nature of the learning experience of using an eportfolio and whether it enhances the development of criticality among flexible learners. It aims to interrogate the process of the development of criticality rather than the product. The project adopts a case study approach, following 20 flexible learners over the course of one academic year in a Dublin based third level institution.

This paper reports on a doctoral research project which examines the nature of the learning experience of using an eportfolio and whether it enhances the development of criticality among flexible learners. It aims to interrogate the process of the development of criticality rather than the product. The project adopts a case study approach, following 20 flexible learners over the course of one academic year in a Dublin based third level institution.

This paper reports on a qualitative case study set in Dublin City University which explored student experiences of studying online. The project adopted a case study approach, following twenty-four online students over one academic year. The setting for the study was an undergraduate sociology module on the BA (Hons) in Humanities, an online programme delivered through DCU Connected at Dublin City University (DCU). Following an open and distance learning philosophy, DCU Connected aims to afford educational opportunities to adult students. The research question for the study was: How do online students construct their narratives about learning online? Data was collected from participant generated learning portfolios and semi structured interviews. Two instruments were developed: a learning portfolio instrument and an interview schedule. Participants were interviewed with their learning portfolios, which were used as stimulus during the interviews. A circular model of data collection and analysis was followed and data analysis was an ongoing and iterative process. The analysis followed a data-led thematic analysis approach based on Braun & Clarke's (2006) six phases and comprised of several cycles of coding, theme generation, refining and reviewing themes. Through this analysis process five themes were constructed with reference to the research questions, literature and theoretical framework. The findings were constructed into five themes: motivation, peer community, module supports, studying while balancing life commitments and my approach to learning. Findings indicate being a successful online student was impacted by the challenge of lifeload issues such as balancing competing demands of family, work and illness. In addition, the findings suggest that the learning portfolio gave online students a personal space to evaluate their own learning, to process their thoughts and experiences and to document their lives and learning in an authentic and meaningful way. Online students' learning portfolio gave a unique window into their learning experiences where they documented the development of their highly personal approaches to studying. Another important finding was that participants placed a high value on the peer communities they formed.