Introduction
I arrived at the Ultralab in 1998
following a lengthy career spent working with primary age and early years children
and consultancy in the area of e-pedagogies and project creation/development.
I feel my interest in altruism and the learning of others stemmed from parental
and school influences that spawned an interest in philosophy in my pre-teen
years; particularly that of general semantics, the interpretation of meaning
and the science of sanity.
I work predominantly from home in
Cornwall and spent my first few years as project manager of the associated Chestnet.net
and SpRITE
(Specialist Registrar Internet Training Environment) projects. I then moved
on to a role as a senior lecturer facilitating, researching and developing the
Talking Heads project and later as a researcher, facilitator and curriculum
developer for notschool.net. I am currently working as part of the Ultraversity
project team researching, developing and delivering our innovative degree programme
and researching the potential creation of associated programmes. Online pedagogies
and assessment processes are the main focus of my current research and the BA
(Hons) Learning, Technology and Research degree provides the current context
for this.
Interests outside of the academic
are:
self expression through photography,
mixed media painting, 3d sculpture, experimental music, free jazz, traditional
African and South American percussion, and creative writing.
The sea - surfing, sailing, kayaking,
and rockpooling with my children
The land - mountain walking, skiing,
snowboarding, geology, geomorphology, nature watching and wildlife preservation
People - how they interact and have
interacted with each other and the environment
Environment - minimising negative
impact, maximising our nurturing of our home
some of these interests were drawn
on in constructing web
based curriculum resources for notschool .net. Collected here as an archive
but not in their original framing.
Current research context
My core research context at present
is action research within the Ultraversity project, I joined this project in
2003 at its inception and am specifically involved with the evolution and facilitation
of the BA (Hons) Learning, Technology and Research degree and the development
of a precursor course preparing prospective students for online study.
At inception the assessment methodology
and associated key pedagogical frameworks of the degree were a synthesis of
our guiding influences and the Ultralab philosophies existing at the time, some
of the key questions I am particularly interested in are listed below.
Can we provide a 3 year online learning
framework that will enable undergraduate students to integrate work place activities,
action research and study successfully ?
How effectively can research processes
be applied by undergraduate students using their workplace as a study context
?
What is an effective balance of asynchronous
and synchronous communications in facilitating e-learning at undergraduate level
?
Can online learning resources engender
a sense of delight in the students ?
What does a vibrant undergraduate
online learning community look like - what role do facilitators play in sustaining
this ?
Which facilitation strategies best
promote students to be autonomous learners ?
What effective assessment strategies
can be developed to efficiently assess submissions that embrace a wide range
of media and technologies?
My first two years facilitating cohort
1 researchers at level 1 and level 2 provided answers for some of these questions,
we are now on the fifth iteration of level one and the continued input of research
findings into the development of this framing has provoked many changes in how
we approach its delivery as well as providing stimulus for the framing of other
Anglia Ruskin projects in particular the blended learning projects. Action research
by a cohesive team who's members actively embrace agility and innovation has
proved very effective in honing and refining the framing of the degree as it
has in all of the work I have been involved in.
Hull University 2001 consultation
relating to social inclusion research and framing of research output as an interactive
game.
Consultation with other HE establishments
relating to the facilitation and creation of innovative approaches to elearning
at Masters level 2005 /06.
Swansea University 2006: Jointly
initiated a potential working relationship with Swansea University to provide
opportunities for Ultraversity style project developments in the future.
Recruitment: Development of recruitment
materials including leaflets / posters, virtual tours, identifying potential
target groups for recruitment and avenues to reach them.
Reviewing the mapping of Intended
Learning Outcomes against module activities and assessment criteria across all
of the BA LTR modules to ensure appropriate progression of learning in preparation
for 15/30 credit changes.
Reviewing the creative use of multi
and integrated media in presenting learning resources across all modules of
BA LTR including the presentation of resources in audio format.
Developing an Alumni for BA LTR graduates.
Representing the BA LTR study skills
workshops as a study skills arena removing the temporal connection with module
activities and raising the profile of study skills within the programme.
leadership of BA LTR CB230007S Learning
in the Works setting module; reframing for the change to 30 credits.
COS profile - http://myprofile.cos.com/iantindal.
Future plans
Participation in devising and running
BBC Blast digital creativity workshops
An exploration of how online community
could improve the efficacy of BreathEasy self support groups for patients and
carers of patients with chronic lung diseases.
Project development for a pan European
support network for parents involved in educating their children at home and
associated online environments to support the development of their children.
A framework for this, including accreditation opportunities, is being developed
in conjunction with parents involved in EducationOtherwise.
Research output in the form
of Papers and presentations (incomplete )
An Internet Based Postgraduate Respiratory
Medicine Learning Resource and its potential application in the communication
of regionally generated training resources across regional and international
boundaries.(2002 unpublished) http://intra.ultralab.net/~ian.tindal/Autumn
review 2002/cnetpaper/cnet.htm.
Learning
in the workplace: a new degree online.
ARIAC presentation - workshop on
aspects of online community based learning; web
resources here.
2003 Framing of social research around
parents and access to education presented as a snakes
and ladders game for Hull University (note update needed -autoplay needs
disabled) Progression from Family Learning ; LSC-funded research report for
CityLearning, April 2003. (Report and 'snakes and ladders' game both available
on the CityLearning website at http://www.citylearning.net/strategicplans.asp
.)
Researcher stories - gathering data
from BA L,TR researchers to build a research resource bank
Papers in preparation
Patchwork Online: testing Winter's
ideas through the Ultraversity project - jointly working on a paper that tests
the Ultraversity philosophy against Prof. Winter's applied epistemology and
patchwork text approach to assessment.
The role of metaphor in provoking
student affinity and maintaining motivation in an online learning context. An
evaluation of the impact of presenting interactive
learning resources that stimulate a degree of affinity in the students through
learning framed as a metaphorical journey. Contextualised in the delivery and
facilitation of the Reflection in the Work setting 1 module to Cohort 4
BA (Hons) Learning, Technology and Research.
The ebb and flood of states of flow
or optimal learning in online learning environments. Contextualised in the delivery
and facilitation of level one modules to Cohort 4 and Cohort 5 BA (Hons)
Learning, Technology and Research.
