Assessing and enhancing quality using toolkits
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/09684880010312677 |
| Date | 01 March 2000 |
| Pages | 32-37 |
| Published date | 01 March 2000 |
| Author | Martin Oliver,Grainne Conole |
| Subject Matter | Education |
Assessing and
enhancing quality using
toolkits
Martin Oliver and
Grainne Conole
Introduction
Nationally, policy has placed considerable
emphasis on the embedding of new
technology into the teaching and learning
process (e.g. HEFCE, 1997). However, the
process of embedding learning technology is
not trivial, and uptake has been patchy
(Laurillard et al., 1993). One reason for this is
the considerable range of skills that need to be
acquired if embedding is to be carried out in a
professional way (Phelps et al., 1999). To
address this skill gap, research was
undertaken into the development of a
resource that allowed professional educators
with little or no prior experience of learning
technology use to engage in the embedding
process. This research is outlined below.
Toolkits: resources for supporting
decision making
Early research into the requirements for the
design tool showed that there was clear need
for support in the process of designing or
redesigning courses in order to take advantage
of the opportunities provided by learning
technology. In order to do this, it was
essential that the toolkit contained an expert
model of the process being supported.
However, in recognition of the differences
between pedagogic practice in different
discipline areas, this resource needed to be
supportive, not prescriptive (Conole and
Oliver, 1998).
These requirements positioned the resource
between two more common types of support
tool: conceptual frameworks and software
wizards (Oliver and Conole, 1999). A
framework is taken to mean a theoretical
overview of an area, which can be used as a
point of reference in order to relate topics
within the area. It is less restrictive than a
toolkit, and, as a consequence, less
supportive. By contrast, a wizard is taken to
be a software tool that makes decisions on
behalf of the user, based on solicited
information and drawing on pre-defined
templates. In most cases, the way in which
these outputs are generated is hidden from
the user. As a result, it is easier to use than a
toolkit, but is far more restrictive in terms of
potential outputs. To summarise,
frameworks, toolkits and wizards lie at
different points along a continuum, with open
but unsupportive theoretical maps at one end,
and restrictive but easy-to-use software ``black
The authors
Martin Oliver is a Research Fellow at the Teaching and
Learning Technology Centre, University of North London,
UK. E-mail: m.oliver@unl.ac.uk
Grainne Conole is Director of the Institute for Learning
and Research Technology, University of Bristol, UK.
E-mail: g.conole@bristol.ac.uk
Keywords
Learning, Technology, Quality, Assessment
Abstract
``Toolkits'' are decision-making frameworks based on
expert models. This paper outlines one toolkit, which
provides support for practitioners involved in the process
of embedding learning technology into their courses.
Although the toolkit was created as a design tool,
feedback from evaluations identified its value as a means
of assessing quality. This paper outlines the background
of the creation and scope of the toolkit, examines how it
can be used to assess and enhance the quality of courses
and concludes by summarising how toolkits can be used
as part of quality procedures in other areas.
.
Electronic access
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32
Quality Assurance in Education
Volume 8 .Number 1 .2000 .pp. 32±37
#MCB University Press .ISSN 0968-4883
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