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Appendix 8: Virtual Research Environment
The Schools of Ambition have access to a Virtual Research Environment within the Applied Education Research Scheme ( AERS) VRE is managed by Sanna Rimpilainen and Professor Donald Christie at Strathclyde University. This resource is designed to support collaboration and communication, as well as serving as a repository for project resources and project management information.
Members of the Research Support Team underwent training in the use of the VRE in September-October 2006 and materials and introductory resources were compiled, uploaded and tested in late 2006. These include links to other practitioner research websites in the UK and elsewhere, guidance on ethical practice, all project documentation and contact details for participants. There is also a link out to the SEED website but as yet there is no link in from the Schools of Ambition website, which has been under development. Teachers and SEED Advisors were registered as users in February 2007. There are currently 76 users registered with the Schools of Ambition VRE. The site was visited 901 times between September 13 th 2006 and July 24 th 2007.
The VRE was launched as a communication tool when teachers were requested to share summaries of their evaluation plans. A simple template (one side of A4 paper) was used to help teachers refine their plans and share them with a wider audience. In July 2007, 33 evaluation plans were available for viewing in the resources file store of the VRE and a further 6 are in development.
In responding to questions about VRE usage in the June e-survey, 6 respondents (20%) had used the VRE to find out about other Schools of Ambition evaluation activities but 11 (36%) had not used the VRE. Thirteen (43%) reported that they intended to use the VRE but had not yet done so. Of the 6 respondents who had used the VRE, 2 felt that it had been 'fairly useful' and 3 felt that it has 'not been very useful' and one felt that the VRE was 'not at all useful'.
Teachers expressed a preference for alternative forms of communication, including accessing print versions/booklets of research digests, mentor support visits, attending network meetings and 'inter-visiting'. The Schools of Ambition one-day conference was appreciated as facilitating face-to-face communication. As one teacher commented in a response to the June survey:
'Seeing, doing, being there and engaging personally has a more direct, immediate and therefore, at the moment, relevant impact.'
Three discussion strands had been initiated on the VRE, two by the Research Support Team Project Coordinator and one by a classteacher within a School of Ambition. These had not elicited wider discussion and responses were limited to colleagues who worked within the same school.
Key points
- Collaborative potential of the VRE is currently under-utilised
- VRE used largely as a repository of resources and materials in year one
- Teachers expressed a preference for face-to-face meetings and email/print documents.
Targets/actions
- Roles and responsibilities for promoting VRE usage and updating site specified for members of the Research Support Team.
- Consult with Professor Cowan, Napier University regarding online moderation and mentoring .
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