Professor Mark Stiles Staffordshire University SVEA November 2011 What why and who Social media covers a wide range of possibly inhouse and web 20Cloud tools The prime purpose of social media in personal business and educational contexts is about the 5 Cs ID: 497063
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Slide1
Organisational policies, governance & processes as barriers to using social media
Professor Mark StilesStaffordshire University
SVEA – November 2011Slide2
What, why and who?
“Social media” covers a wide range of (possibly) in-house and “web 2.0”/”Cloud” toolsThe prime purpose of “social media” in personal, business and educational contexts is about the “5 Cs” (Friedman and Friedman 2008):CommunicationCollaboration Community Creativity Convergence In Lifelong Learning its use concerns, institutions, other organisations, employers and individuals
SVEA November 2011Slide3
My messages…
“Social media use” in education is an INNOVATIONMany organisations – especially educational ones – struggle to maintain innovations
“Social media use” challenges
organisational structures and
cultures
Learners and practitioners will
lose heart
if things are made difficult and fail to meet their expectations
SVEA November 2011Slide4
The Challenges…
The world of education is changing in national/organisational/individual/educational ways and both institutions and practitioners have embedded cultural and behavioural practices that are limiting their ability to respond – so do many partners organisations!SVEA November 2011Slide5
The “Landscapes”…
What "landscapes" confront the educational innovator? National & Political landscape – a new political climate and rapidly changing funding models Organizational landscape - where institutions struggle
to innovate and respond to change Individual
landscape
- where a new generation, including work-based learners, have very different requirements, expectations and personal constraints.
Educational
landscape
- can no longer be concerned solely with enhancement but must "deliver to budget” and to the expectations of the other three landscapes
.SVEA November 2011Slide6
National/Political Landscape:
Current political and economic climates and resulting changes in funding models have the potential to transform Further & Higher Education into a truly commodity-driven market where even the learner is a commodity. SVEA November 2011Slide7
“Big HE”
SVEA November 2011Slide8
National/Political Landscape:
Such a market driven approach to HE using “pay-as-you-consume” methods could: record all the learning activities purchased and undertaken by the individual learner this could be incorporated into a portfolio along with evidence and reflection BUT this information could be also used to assess the “cost-effectiveness” of the individual and along with sophisticated job profiling be used in selection processes
this could be regarded as “commodification of the workforce” (just one example).
SVEA November 2011Slide9
Organisational Landscape:
Where institutions struggle to innovate and respond to change, laden as they are with policy, governance and organisational cultures, which are solution rather than problem focused, and customer centric in name only.SVEA November 2011Slide10
Your Institution?
excessive hierarchy and over-heavy bureaucracy, the comfort of ingrained routines, strong vertical command structures and weak lateral and bottom-up communication, unbalanced and non-integrated authority across professional domains, conservatism and risk aversion, territoriality, defensiveness and insecurity as well as wilfulness (Middlehurst, 1998)The individual experts may be highly innovative within a specialist domain, but the difficulties of coordination across functions and disciplines impose severe limits on the innovative capability of the organization as a whole. (Lam, 2005)
SVEA November 2011Slide11
Technology and
InnovationTraditionally:technology has allowed adoption of TL&A approaches previously difficult to deliver/resourceinteroperability has improved management and developmentdevelopment and adoption has followed traditional IT paths
SVEA November 2011Slide12
Technology and
InnovationBut now:Social media, web apps, mobile devices, cloud, BYOTtechnologies stand/fall in a “mass-market” way.
adoption by take-up and “critical mass”
at the individual user level
in multiple contexts - private, social and commercial.
once spread into the mass market - become almost unstoppable
SVEA November 2011Slide13
Adoption of New Technologies 1:
Private UseInformal LearningOwn Formal Learning
Practitioner Independent InitiativesDemands for integration
Critical Level of Use
Challenges to: support, resources, processes, policies, regulations and governance
A perception of “the institution getting in the way” can result in an effective block on innovation
Spread
“Viral Innovation”
SVEA November 2011Slide14
Adoption of New Technologies 2:
Local ProblemLocal InvestigationSolution
Practitioner AdoptionDemands for integration
Critical Level of Use
Challenges to: support, resources, processes, policies, regulations and governance
what differs here is change is based on a specific process change or education model
“vetting” proposed trials/pilots can result in practitioners “going native”
Spread
“Local Initiative”
SVEA November 2011Slide15
Adoption of New Technologies 3:
Team ProblemCentrally Aided InvestigationSolution
PilotConsideration of Impact
Planned changes to: support, resources, processes, policies, regulations and governance
Mainstreaming
Successful pilots not easy to “turn off” and can result in “fait accompli”
“Vetting” proposed trails/pilots can result in practitioners “going native”
Pilot a success
Mainstreaming of local pilots very difficult and even if successful often results in silos
“Innovation Pilot”
SVEA November 2011Slide16
Adoption of New Technologies 4:
PositioningInformation gathering and analysisFeasibility study
Business caseStatement of requirements
Procurement
Implementation
“Strategically driven” but often solution focused
Lack of big picture can result in silos
Poor governance often results in inadequate stakeholder engagement
“Strategic Initiative”
SVEA November 2011Slide17
Organisational Barriers
(Not just educational organisations – this is Lifelong Learning)Fear:AccessibilityPrivacy and safetyIPR and CopyrightReputation loss
Loss of controlNew pedagogies/ways of workingPace of change
SVEA November 2011Slide18
Organisational Barriers
(Not just educational organisations – this is Lifelong Learning)Governance:Quality assurance/enhancementMarketingAssessment regulations“Product” development
IT Regulations and GovernanceBureaucracy in general!
SVEA November 2011Slide19
Organisational Barriers
(Not just educational organisations – this is Lifelong Learning)IT Barriers:Linking externally hosted applications to internal onesBlocking and filteringSupport and expertiseLoss of control (again)
Loss of existing investmentOpen vs. closed
SVEA November 2011Slide20
Organisational Barriers
(Not just educational organisations – this is Lifelong Learning)Organisational and Management Culture - Social media use: threatens hierarchical structureserodes traditional rolesremoves “gatekeepers”
changes power dynamicsneeds changed views of “risk”
SVEA November 2011Slide21
A “thought” on policy…
Bureaucracy can be a very real barrier to innovation, and much bureaucracy is founded on satisfying “sectional” needs or “regulatory” requirementsI’d like to suggest part of our salvation lies in policy, but using policies which enable and facilitate and not control and regulate unnecessarily…SVEA November 2011Slide22
Individual Landscape:
Our “customers” will:expect to be treated as a paying clientexpect more individualised “product”increasingly want work-based and focused “product”want flexibility
Tutors and learners will build their own toolsets from:
what is provided by the institution
what they have on their own (personal) computer
what is available on the Web.
Learners will
“opt out” of systems institutions and tutors might prefer them to use for formal learning activities
initiate “sharing” and “community” activities outside of formal learning using tools they have chosen.
engage with wider and more diverse communities.
build their own learning environments
SVEA November 2011Slide23
Possible loci of activity
Control levelInstitution Initiated
Tutor Initiated
Learner Initiated
Control
Enrolment
Progression
Summative assessment
Course structure
Submission of work for assessment
Manage
Tutor led discussion
Lecture
Course Resources
Facilitate
Group Project
Course/Group Discussion
Enable
Formal Peer discussion
Blog of learning experience
Recognise
Informal peer discussion
Personal Blog
SVEA November 2011Slide24
Educational Landscape:
My own view is that despite all the pressures the quality of learning experience being provided is high and continues to improve…But – we are increasingly expected to “deliver to – decreasing - budget”
We have reached a point where something being “better” or “more educationally effective” is not enough…
SVEA November 2011Slide25
Educational Landscape:
What I see in Lifelong Learning and Vocational Education:Greater influence by employersReduced ranges of courses offeredMore individualised coursesMore APEL
Reduced staffingAlternative providers
OER
Learners studying “cross” institution
More self-learn
More work-based
learning
A BIG role for Social Media
SVEA November 2011Slide26
What’s to be done?
I hope you know better than I do! There is real expertise on using social media as a rich educational tool here today!But from my “boring” perspective”:
Fight to get your institution to take an organisation-wide view of ALL its information – not just the “admin”
Finds ways of presenting
social media as
“good value”, “employer and customer” centric, and above all “cost effective”
Fight to get policy and governance that liberates rather than binds
Above all – show innovation works!
SVEA November 2011Slide27
Thank you for
your patiencem.j.stiles@staffs.ac.ukTensions between Innovation and Control:http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6572643972
Big HE:http://learning.staffs.ac.uk/ldiwebsite/reports.html
SVEA November 2011