Current Role and Experience:I am a researcher and project manager for a number of action research
initiatives at Ultralab. My association with Ultralab began in 1998
when I joined the
SchoolNet 2000 Project as an advisory teacher and the years working here have proved to be a truly ‘delightful’ learning experience.
In a former life, as head of ICT in a Hampshire secondary school, I was
enlisted by the Local Education Authority to join a working group
responsible for improving the assessment of ICT across the county. The
materials we developed were promoted and adopted nationally.
I pursued this interest in assessment and ICT through my Master’s
Research and completed my MSc in 1997. It was during this time that I
first came across Professor Stephen Heppell and when the opportunity
arose to work with him I jumped at the chance.
In 2001 I joined the
Talking Heads
project working with NCSL to research the value of an online community
of headteachers in reducing isolation and promoting good practice. My
particular areas of research focus were; identifying an appropriate
model of online facilitation, and developing an online course to
disseminate our research and practice.
Eighteen months later I took on one of my most rewarding challenges so far at Ultralab, as Project Director of
eVIVA,
an innovative research project for QCA, exploring the use of digital
technology in the assessment of pupils in ICT at KS3. This project was
great fun and, because of the way in which it used mobile phone and
voice (VXML) technology, it attracted a lot of media attention. I was
involved in writing the two project bids for funding, both of which
were successful, as well as leading the multidisciplinary research team
of eight research colleagues.
The project ran for two years and came to a very successful conclusion
in August 2004 with the presentation of our final report to QCA. We
have since run another small eVIVA pilot study in New Zealand, and hope to extend this in the future. We are
also exploring other UK partnership opportunities in a bid to
take eVIVA into phase 3.
Currently I am working as project manager on the
Ultraversity
project (a fully online, work-based degree course: BA in Learning,
Technology and Research) leading the research into the third cohort,
which started in February 2005. My particular research focus here is on
the patchwork media approach (Winter 1999) that we have developed to
assess the work of our students. At present I am working with colleagues putting the finishing touches to a paper on this that we successfully presented at BERA 2006.
This Ultraversity role also involves me in working as a consultant with other
establishments interested in adopting the Ultraversity online model. I
am working with Bournemouth University at the moment, helping them to
develop an online Master’s Degree in Digital Media. I am hoping to
use the research from this to develop a consultation model that we can
use in future consultancy work.
My final area of responsibility is to oversee ‘Ultralab Learning’
(Ultralab's online Master's programme).
Currently we are working to develop an MA in Learning,
Technology and Research to provide a natural path of progression for
our BALTR students. We are also developing an online facilitation
course in conjunction with
CORE-ED in New Zealand which hopefully will be launched in June.
Research:
My research interests at present are focussed on two areas and the second of these is the subject of my PhD studies:
Promoting an approach to the assessment of ICT, which places greater
emphasis on the authentic work and voice of the student, and offers
innovative ways of assessing that work using mobile phone and/ or web
technologies.
Investigating the role of the online facilitator in developing delightful online learning community environments
Here is a link to my recent publications and conference presentations
My COS Profile can be found at
http://myprofile.cos.com/lesleym
