Open University
Part-time working and technology
Many Universities and Colleges in the UK employ part-time staff, whose working practices are often distinct from those of full time staff. To illustrate the issues, this case study from the Open University describes the working practices of its 8000 part-time tutors, many of whom work for other HEIs as well, maintaining a portfolio career. In this account we first describe the institutional environment and the drivers which have led to the widespread adoption of ICT throughout the institution. We go on to describe the requirements which are placed on part time tutors, and the work which has already been undertaken on the effects of ICT on their working practicesover the last 10 years. This sets the scene for the vignettes which illustrate a range of working practices undertaken by part-time staff working in a variety of contexts, with different levels of expertise.
In line with OU strategic objectives for 2007-8, the university is committed to embed eLearning and the use of ICT at the centre of the student experience. These drivers mean that all OU students and part-time tutors must have access to the internet, wherever they live. Since the end of 2004, there has been a mandatory two year induction programme for tutors and an allowance within the contract for up to two days per year of continuing development activities for those who are more experienced.
Since 2004 all tutors must have access to the internet for administrative purposes, but also increasingly for supporting learners. The adoption of ICT into the working practices of part-time tutors has been a gradual process over the last decade. Arguably innovators and early adopters may relish learning new skills to master the innovation. In contrast, later adopters have a different attitude to the innovation, and may be more critical of its value and application, in comparison with existing ways of working. For these reasons we have chosen to illustrate these points with vignettes from early and late adopters. The vignettes raise a number of issues which impact on the uptake and use of IT:
- the nearer they approximated to full-time working, the more acceptable IT was
- those who approximated to full-time working felt most pressure from their work and identified IT systems as contributing to that pressure
- the home-based nature of Open University tutor work meant that IT communications systems were readily adopted
- at the same time tutors felt isolated if they only worked through IT communication, they valued face- to- face contact and looked to engage in it
- tutor commitment to student access and support influenced their attitude to IT use
- some tutors still preferred carrying out some teaching tasks without IT
Comments on the vignettes from stakeholders in the institution included a growing awareness of the impact of IT use on the student experience, particularly in terms of the enhanced communicative potential. Negative factors included the cost equipment and time needed to learn new skills, and a tension between the educational development needed to learn them and the commitment which could reasonably be expected of part-time staff on small contracts.