Ian Tindal's Profile

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.