Page 150 - Innovative Professional Development Methods and Strategies for STEM Education

Introducing Educational Technology into the Higher Education Environment

The Capacity-Building Component

During the first six months of the Partners@Work programme, lecturers were empowered to function
independently by means of an extensive capacity-building programme. This programme involved a two-
month initial face-to-face block session, followed by weekly one-day contact sessions thereafter, and a
variety of online training courses throughout their time on the programme. Active participation in the
online courses, earned Partners certificates that stated the specific levels of their achievements. At the
initial block session, and thereafter during the weekly contact sessions, time was spent networking with
other partners, sharing progress, taking part in workshops and hands-on training sessions facilitated by
experts, and by asking and answering questions related to their own development activities.
Skills development activities, focused on applications such as the learning management system, as-
sessment software, website development and video editing programs. Knowledge development activi-
ties included among other: Writing a scientific article, Preparing and presenting a conference paper,
Designing an outcomes-based curriculum, Instructional design for elearning purposes, Facilitating and
managing online learning, Encouraging online collaboration and interaction, Implementing high quality
electronic learning activities, Implementing interactive multimedia products, Creating and administering
quality electronic assessments, and Managing a technology-enhanced course. Constructive attitudes were
fostered through heated class debates and journaling by means of reflective weblogs.
During this phase lecturers also attended a series of workshops on the basic principles of conducting
a research project. Apart from simply absorbing the facts, Partners were encouraged to start thinking
about a possible problem or hypothesis that could be examined during the research phase. Having done
this, lecturers could plan specific design and development outcomes with the aim to support the research
data required later.

The Design and Develop Component

This component ran parallel with the capacity-building phase. Lecturers spent the majority of their
time during their first six months on the Partners@Work Programme actively designing and developing
technology-enhanced teaching and learning materials and learning activities for their courses with the
help of an expert team consisting of specialists such as programmers, instructional designers, curriculum
designers, student development officers, quality experts, graphic artists, and video editors. During this
phase, time was spent designing and developing materials for a particular subject using the technolo-
gies, applications, tools and services available at the institution. These included the Internet, animations,
graphics, interactive multimedia, electronic testing, video- and audio conferencing, mobile learning and
video productions.
For example, in a management course, a case study on leadership styles included a video clip of the
current president of South Africa, Mr Jacob Zuma, making a speech. The video clip paused at particular
points and was then interspersed with thought provoking questions with regards to leadership issues.
The aim was for students to reflect on the various characteristics of this particular leadership style, and
to provide a stimulus for group discussions, either online using a bulletin board or a wiki, or in group
discussions face-to-face.
The lecturers on the programme met their instructional designers weekly for individual sessions to
plan and discuss areas of concern. This ensured that the lecturer got personalised advice and support in

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