Collaborative Working in UK Learning and Teaching Projects

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Collaborative Working in UK Learning and Teaching
Projects
Moira Massey EDINA Learning and Teaching
Projects Co-ordinator
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Themes of Presentation

• Introduction to EDINA
• Collaborative working and action research at
  EDINA
• Service - EDINA Digimap
• Projects
• Xgrain
• e-MapScholar
• Contact details

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• Edinburgh Data INformation and Access
• One of three National Data Centres for UK
  tertiary education
• Funded by Joint Information Systems Committee
  (JISC) of funding councils
• Part of University of Edinburgh Computing
  Services
• Provides around 20 online information services to
  UK tertiary education - mainly geo-data and
  bibliographic

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Collaborative Working

• Both in services and projects
• EDINA aims for collaboration in technical,
  organisational and content issues, with
• - Site Representatives
• - Trial sites
• - Associate Partners within projects
• - Learning and Teaching and other experts
• - Other projects within programmes
• - Other projects within clusters
• - Community
• Put emphasis on working with stake-holders and
  carrying out effective evaluation of work

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Work based on Action Researchprinciples

• Integrating practice with the analysis of
  practice (Webber and Johnston, 2000)
• Cyclic - Kemmis and McTaggart (1988) - plan, act,
  observe, reflect, plan again
• Participative - trial sites, field studies, site
  representatives, partners, LT Associates,
  community calls for proposals
• Qualitative research (although quantitative also
  used)

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Action Research 2

• Reflective - all parties involved offered regular
  opportunities to reflect and comment
• Responsive - actions amended in the light of
  findings
• Emergent - early cycles used to help decide how
  to conduct later cycles, both action and research
• (Descriptors taken from Dick, B. 2000.
• http//www.scu.edu.au/schools/gcm/ar/arhome.html)

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The EDINA Digimap Service
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EDINA Digimap

• Digimap is a web-based mapping service, offering
  access to Ordnance Survey digital map data
• National service, serving 51 HE institutions
• Started as e-Lib funded project with six trial
  sites
• Digimap offers an easy-to-use, map-based
  interface, allowing
• creation of maps on-screen
• printing of high quality maps
• downloading of digital map data for use in users
  own GIS or graphics package

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Data available through Digimap
1 50,000 Place-names Gazetteer - 250,000
place-names
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Digimap - screen shot
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Who is using Digimap? - users

• undergraduates are largest group

• 82 of users are not geographers

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Growth in user numbers

• number of registered users hasdoubled in this
  academic year(currently 5,000)

• users generally learn of Digimapby word of mouth

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Collaborative Working in Digimap - the project

• Trial service was made available to six trial
  sites, each of which appointed a site
  representative
• Iterative changes were made to service from work
  with trial sites
• Evaluation work undertaken, both by members of
  the project team, and external evaluators
• Project continues as Digimap.Plus, with remit to
  examine development of service to incorporate
  aerial photography, historical data and locally
  licensed data
• Digimap.Plus also working on geo-data survey with
  community

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Overview of Evaluation of Digimap Project
Log Files
What was done? Where? When? Who? Why? How? Where?
Happiness? Effectiveness? Impact? Benefits? Proble
ms? Future?
Usability Study
Usage Evaluation
Teaching Needs
Organisational Impact Study
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Evaluation outcomes

• Wide range of insights from the evaluation work
• who users are and what they are doing
• how the service can be improved
• how data are used and how they can be better
  supplied
• supporting users in their use of complex data
• teaching needs, as well as research needs
• Wide range of benefits
• improved service and new facilities
• all developments based on collaboration with
  stake-holders
• led to award of funding for national service

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Collaborative Working in Digimap National Service

• Currently has 51 subscribing HE institutions
• About to embark upon trial service to 6 FE
  institutions
• National service works with local support teams -
  site reps, local experts, computing services etc
• All support teams receive intensive training
  (four separate modules available)
• Discussion of issues on mailing lists and
  presentations from users at workshops
• Digimap team feeds user views to OS and JISC
• Geo-data content development work directly
  informed by national service users

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The Xgrain project
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Aim of Xgrain

• To enhance and promote the use and usability of
  specialist Abstracting and Indexing, and
  electronic Tables of Contents, services in
  learning and teaching

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Summary of X-grain

• Project led by EDINA, with Associate Partners
• January 2001 - May 2003
• Broker to carry out searching
• Cross-search portal
• Supplemented by learning and teaching materials,
  including learning objects
• Project supported by 10 Learning and Teaching
  Associates
• Part of larger programme, called JOIN-UP,
  addressing linkage between reference sources and
  full text services
• Further information available at
• http//edina.ac.uk/projects/joinup/index.shtml

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Collaborative Working in Xgrain

• Technical development work with partner
  institutions
• User requirements and LT work being undertaken
  with 10 Learning and Teaching Associates, to
• Advise on functionality of the cross-search
  interface
• Trial prototype interfaces at local institutions,
  or within subject community
• Advise on enhancement of the cross-search
  interface for learning and teaching use
• Assist with development of LT materials
• Community involvement in developing LT materials

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The e-MapScholar project
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Digimap e-MapScholar

• January 2001 - December 2002
• Aim is to develop tools and learning and teaching
  materials that enhance and support the use of
  geo-spatial data in learning and teaching
• Will enhance the Digimap service for learning and
  teaching
• Working with Associate Partners from 2
  Universities and Ordnance Survey
• - and Associates from 7 other Universities, or
  Subject Centres
• More information available at
• http//edina.ac.uk/projects/mapscholar/index.shtm
  l

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The Digimap Skills/Concepts Gap
Learning/skills curve
Using data from Digimap in a GIS or drawing
package
Digimap - obtaining a map
Users need help to negotiate barriers arising
from lack of skills/knowledge
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Bridging the Skills/Concepts Gap
Tutorials
Using data from Digimap in a GIS or drawing
package
Digimap - obtaining a map
Learning/skills curve
Tools
Increasing user sophistication
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An example - enhanced visualisation
Overlay
Roads
Settlements
Land-use
Water features
D.E.M. derived from DTED
K. Morrison/R. Purves
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Collaborative Working in e-MapScholar

• Associate Partners developing software and
  learning materials
• Advisors from 7 other Universities assisting with
  project and user requirements work
• Consortium divided into teams project
  co-ordination, development, evaluation, LT
• Regular meetings for all teams, reports and
  mailing list discussions
• Community involvement in developing case studies
  and other learning materials

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Contact

• To find out more about EDINA services and
  projects, see
• http//edina.ac.uk
• or email edina_at_ed.ac.uk
• For further information about
• e-MapScholar or Xgrain, please contact
• Moira Massey
• moira.massey_at_ed.ac.uk