Research+Herman+Schimmel

=My research project =


 * ~  ||~ //Please complete this column as you feel appropriate// ||
 * **I am:** || Herman Schimmel ||
 * **My project title/theme:** || PhD - ** The ICT coach: how to enhance the development of Learning and ICT in higher education ** ||
 * **Here are a few more details:** ||  ||
 * **More details can be found here:** ||  ||
 * **I can be contacted on:** || hermanschimmel@gmail.com ||

This page can be read best together with this presentation

** The ICT coach: how to enhance the development of Learning and ICT in higher education ** = Introduction = This presentation is about knowledge management in higher education, more specifically about the objectives of a Dutch university to use a teacher’s network to develop knowledge about the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), and to share this knowledge within the network. I will provide an overview and introduction of my research and the context of the case study. The presentation will highlight the main theorists that have contributed to the frame work of the study and have lead to the aim of the research. = Context = Today we are living in an age were industrial focus made place for a knowledge society (Wigg, 1997). Knowledge is becoming more and more important and applied vocational knowledge is now needed in schools. Where the apprentice is past ages learned his job, skills and artwork in guilds and from masters, now the mastery of specific knowledge in a profession is handed over to schools. From this standpoint a university of applied sciences in the Netherlands launched a strategy in 2004 to change the educational and organizational framework with the starting point that the student is responsible for his own learning process. This university offers students courses that are tuned to on the individual objectives of the students. The university focuses on the students to match their needs with the expectations and needs of the vocational practice in society. = Learning and ICT = Now students own a variety of information and communication technologies and almost every minute of the day they are connected online to friends by //Facebook//, //You Tube// and other internet based social networks. A recent study of the use of ICT by students shows that the choice of a student’s academic major is associated with perceived skills in certain IT applications and his or her reported preference for technology in courses (Smith et al, 2009, p. 7). But is higher education ready to offer a curriculum that is based on the use of ICT? Transforming education from a traditional way of transmitting knowledge from teachers to students to a more ICT integrated educational system were students find their own way and the teacher becomes a mentor and advisor, takes time. In a scenario for the Surf Foundation Liebrand et al (2009) questioned if students in the year 2020 will still be dependent on the ICT infrastructure of the educational institute or that they can choose their own way and facilities. Will universities still invest in digital learning environments? A policy paper about the use of ICT in education, which was written at the university in this study (Keiren 2008), showed that teachers felt uncertain about the use of an e-learning environment and that more professional development of the teacher is needed. = Case Study = The context of this case study takes place within that field of professional development of teachers in the use of ICT in education. The case study has been researched in a university of applied sciences with approximately 28,000 students and 2,000 staff, of whom about 1450 are teaching staff. The university ranks among the top 10 professional universities in the Netherlands. In 2006 the university decided to transform the whole university to a new e-learning environment. At the same time a new Student Information System (SIS) was introduced and two faculties have started to use Digital Portfolios. A network of ICT coaches was started. This network was established to create more awareness of Learning and ICT among teachers. The knowledge of the ICT coaches was brought together in this network. Knowledge sharing is one of the main objectives of the network. The university is moving in the direction of self-organised and self-planned learning by students and therefore the role of the teacher is also changing. The management of the university has therefore taken the initiative to encourage teachers to become proficient in the new technologies in order to ‘keep up’ with the students. It is envisaged that the teacher will serve as a moderator, a facilitator and a coach for the student. The growing technology does also has its effect on the way e-learning environments are built and thus also affects the way teachers involve ICT and e-learning in their curriculum. Being in the middle of a change process to enhance the use of ICT and e-learning in the educational system, the university tries to make this change process happen by creating awareness through some early adopters of ICT and learning. Some of these early adopters have been asked to form a network of ICT-coaches. The main task of the ICT-coaches is to bring the teachers at the university to a higher level in which they use computers to design the structure of their educational process. = Research Strategy = The aim of this study was to gain insight into the knowledge management of the university with regard to the knowledge and use of information and communication technology (ICT) in teachers' teaching practice and professional development. More specifically, the study focused on the role of face-to-face and virtual networks as tools of knowledge sharing and knowledge creation with regard to the use of ICT in teaching. The study aimed to investigate the process of networking between ICT coaches, both face-to-face and virtual within the university and to explore the effect on the use of ICT in the learning and teaching practice of the teacher. The difference between those networks was investigated in terms of their potential effects on knowledge sharing and knowledge creation. The research has explored how this knowledge is shared and created in the university in these subjects and how the university can benefit from it in the future. This research builds on existing literature in Learning & ICT, Knowledge Management, and Communities of Practice. Furthermore the study will draw on the relation between attitude and behaviour and the normative beliefs that make people motivated or not to share knowledge. The main research question was: //“What is the role of face to face and virtual networking in relation to creating and sharing knowledge for the development of ICT use in teaching?”//  First Stage In the first stage of the research a baseline survey was made to gain a picture of the current state of the knowledge, attitude and behaviour of the teachers and ICT-coaches with regard to the use of ICT in education.  Second Stage The results of the baseline survey were used to formulate the questions used in the semi-structured interviews with 31 ICT coaches that were active in the network at that time. The interviews formed the main part of the data collection in this study. The aim of the interviews was to answer the main research question. === Third Stage === The goal of the third stage was to identify the development of the knowledge, attitude and behaviour of the ICT coaches with regard to the creation and sharing of knowledge in the network from the time the interviews were held and the time of the focus group interviews. Focus group interviews were held in each of the four faculties of the university and one with the initiators of the network. === Fourth Stage === In the interviews and focus group interviews, coaches stated their contribution and activity in the virtual community. During the academic year of 2008/2009 this virtual community of the ICT coaches was analysed in order to measure the activity level of the coaches and to value their activity in relation to their statements in the interviews and focus group interviews. ** Main Findings ** This research showed that in this particular case study virtual knowledge exchange seldom or never happened. The weblog and the website that are facilitated by the university for the ICT coaches were occasionally visited and used. To some extent this also is the case with the knowledge Intranet. The results of the interviews showed that ICT coaches mainly are too busy to show the usability and navigation of applications and the substitution from learning objects in the e-learning environment. The findings so far showed that although there is a lot of knowledge about ICT & Learning in educational institutes, the main focus is on knowledge transfer to students. The ICT coaches in this university work without a shared vision and have no shared view how ICT should be used in their own institute and what role should ICT coaches have. If the ICT coaches of this university should act as an active community of practice, the management and the moderators should work on a shared vision and understanding of the objectives of the trainings. And where lack of time is argued to be a major pitfall in building a community of practice, the management of the university should give more opportunity for the coaches to participate in the meetings, either face-to-face or virtual. ** Closing remark ** This study is part of a PhD research. The thesis is in progress and will be finished 2011.